


Monsters & Mana ONLINE

by LusciaKoushiro



Series: Status: ONLINE [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, F/M, Kuron is Shiro's Sister, M/M, MMORPGs, Monsters & Mana (Voltron), Sheith will be happening, fem Kuron
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-02-27 15:01:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18741424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LusciaKoushiro/pseuds/LusciaKoushiro
Summary: Keith is having problems fitting in, as usual; getting into fights and his peers deeming that he provoked his attackers. His teachers show their "concerns" and after speaking with them, Keith has to deal with whatever punishment his parents decide to throw his way. His dad, to his surprise, suggests he plays an online game to see if he can make friends that way. Who knows, maybe a little anonymity would do him some good.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my new little project. You might have noticed that I have selected this to be a series. The reason for this is because I want to separate Keith's playing experience with each expansion. Some of Keith's experiences are based on my own as a former FFXI player and current FFXIV player. So please consider this when leaving comments. (I will also note at the end of the chapter what are my own experiences so there is no confusion) 
> 
> Also for writings sake, to make it easier on myself, I will be mainly referencing FFXIV in terms of battles and mechanics since it is what I am familiar with. So if you play FFXIV and catch the references, awesome!
> 
> I'm super excited to start this series, so please enjoy!

It was a typical day for Keith Kogane; wake up, fifty-fifty shot of eating breakfast, go to school, get into a fight, have his parents called in. It was all routine by now. His mother seethed as she drove his car home as her husband followed behind in his truck. Keith could tell from her tone alone that she was exasperated, but he could care less about the words, he's heard it all before.

 

Once the door to their home was open, Krolia pointed to the couch; “Sit.” she ordered.

 

So he does, crossing his arms over his chest and watched her pace back and forth, now seemingly repeating her thoughts and rant from the car ride.  
  


“I am at my wits end here, Keith. This is your fourth fight in two weeks. You've been lucky so far with detention or ISS, but you heard Principal Sanda; you are well on your way to expulsion if you keep this up.”

 

“Who the fuck cares...” Keith muttered under his breath, but not low enough for his mother not to hear.

 

She stopped her movements, a glare only a mother could give in her violet eyes; “What was that?”

 

He let out a long breath, returning the look with equal intensity; “I said; Who. The. Fuck. Cares. It's the same thing every goddamn time, so why don't you just punish me and be done with it.”

 

“Oh, your punishment is coming, but not before we have a little chat.”

 

“Right, chat, meaning listening to you bitch about me. So why don't I save you the trouble. I fucked up, no one cares why the fight even happened; it's automatically my fault. I am a complete failure and disappointment to everyone. Does that about cover it?”

 

“Keith!” her voice rose, anger slipping through.

 

“Krolia.” he retorted back.

 

“Keith, that's enough.” his father says, as calmly as he can. He stood between them, keeping them at an arm's length. “Go to your room while I talk with your mother.”

 

“Gladly...” he replied, getting off the sofa and heading up the stairs. Once in his room his door shuts with a slam, causing the dog on the bed to lift its head and look at him. Keith's footsteps slowed on his approach to the mattress. The anger he felt now washing away, tears threatening to fall.

 

The dog let out a whine at the sight, hopping off the bed just as its master collapsed to his knees. Keith reached out, wrapping his arms around the animal, giving it a hug. The dog whined again as if to question the boy's current state, causing Keith to bury his face in the animal's fur, unable to hold back his sobs; “You're the only one who cares about me, Kosmo...” he chocked out.

 

Downstairs Krolia shook her head when she heard the loud bang of the slamming door. “I don't know what to do with him anymore.” she sighed out after a moment.

 

“Come here, Darlin'.” her husband said, taking her hand in his, pulling her into his lap once he seated himself on the couch.

 

“I don't know what to do...” she repeats, her own anger slipping away into something more sorrowful; “I'm so worried about him. He used to have all kinds of interests and was so creative... When was the last time we saw him draw or play his guitar?”

 

“I know...” he tightened his grip.

 

“I feel like we've tried everything. He won't talk to anyone... I feel like we're losing him, that he's one step away from stealing someone's car or worse.”

 

Her husband slowly ran his hand up and down her back, listening intently. “Maybe it's time we think about trying a different approach.” he said after a few moments of silence.

 

“Like what? Aside from shipping him off to military school, I can't think of anything we haven't tried.”

 

“I was thinking maybe he should try an online game.”

 

“A video game?” her voice was full of shock.

 

“I know it sounds strange-”

 

“Sounds?” Krolia interrupted; “We're supposed to be punishing him and you want him to play games.”

 

He chuckled; “Well when you say it like that, it doesn't make a lot of sense, but-” he raised the hand that resided on her hip to the side of her face, gently caressing her cheek with his thumb; “as you said, he won't talk to anyone and ever since he was little he has had trouble making friends, unfortunately for reasons we do not know. This might be a good and safe outlet for him to socialize.”

 

She leaned into his touch, sighing as she took in his words; “You might have a point... But if this is what we're doing, there will have to be ground rules and he still needs to be punished.”

 

Another chuckle escaped the large man beneath her; “Knowing him, he might see it as his punishment, but we'll think of something. But for now, why don't you get dinner started and I'll talk with Keith.”

 

“Alright...” She climbed off his lap, assisting him up off the cushions. Once he was on his feet again she draped her arms over his shoulders; “I love you.”

 

“I love you too, Darlin'.” They leaned in, briefly pressing their lips together. They soon parted with Krolia making her way to the kitchen and her husband up the stairs.

 

Keith was lying on his bed, his back to the door and an arm draped over the dog. He didn't acknowledge the soft knock that intruded upon the silence, but heaved the tiniest of sighs when he heard the door creak open.

 

“Hey, Son, I want to talk to you for a minute.” His father waited a moment, but when Keith didn't answer him, he let himself in, closing the door behind him. “I want you to know that whatever is going on, you can always talk to your Mom and I.” he sat on the edge of the bed, waiting again for his son to say something.

 

It was faint, barely above a whisper; “No, I can't...” Keith said, tightening his hold on his pet.

 

There was a soft sorrow in Keith's voice, the words barely hung in the air, but it was enough to make his father's heart sink. He placed a gentle hand on his shoulder; “Of course you can... We're here for you, Keith, no matter what.” he paused again, but continued after a few seconds of silence, not wanting it to linger long. He moved the hand from his son's shoulder to moving some of his wild hair to the side of his face, in an effort to see his eyes. “Downstairs you said no one cared why the fight started. So tell me your side of it.”

 

To his father's surprise Keith turned to face him, but his expression and voice returned to the angry sixteen year-old that talked back to his mother moments before. “I said; _I can't_! So why don't you just deal out my punishment and get it over with already?”

 

The older man sighed, standing up from his spot on the mattress; “Fine. Come with me.” He stared directly into his son's deep violet eyes. The gaze he received was full of disdain and frustration; the teen making no move to leave the bed. “This isn't a request, Keith. Get up and come with me, now.”

 

An exasperated sigh escaped his lips; “Fine.” he muttered, rolling over to swing his legs off the side of the bed.

 

He was silent as he followed his dad out of his room, down the stairs and out the front door. “Now what?” Keith questioned, his tone still quite irritated.

 

His father gestured to the truck; “Get in.”

 

He does as told and the moment his seat belt clicks, he hears the roar of the engine and before he knew it, they were out of the driveway and on the road.

 

The ride was relatively quiet, with only the low volume of the radio with classic rock filling the small space. Keith rested his chin within his palm of the propped up arm he had by the window, his gaze fixated on the passing scenery. When the city came into view he heaved a heavy sigh; “So where are you dumping me?”

 

“Dumping you?” his father repeats, more than a little confused by those words.

 

“Don't play dumb. You and Mom have done everything, aside from literally throwing me in jail, so what, you taking me down to the station to give me a hard look of what I will become if I don't 'straighten up and fly right'?”

 

“Keith...” he stopped at the on coming red light, using the time to look at his son; “Your Mom and I want to help, but we would never imagine just abandoning you; alone or with someone else, we wouldn't do such a thing...”

 

“Then what are we doing?” Keith asked, once the truck was in motion again.

 

“You'll see.” A tender smile played on his face as he side-eyed his son; “Just enjoy he ride and relax a little.”

 

Keith returned to watching out the window.

 

Roughly twenty minutes pass when the truck pulls into a plaza parking lot, picking a spot closest to the local game store Keith quirked a dark eyebrow as he eyed the sign; “Dad, why are we here?”

 

“You'll see in a minute, come on.”

 

The two of them entered the store, Keith's father waved to the clerk who greeted them, while Keith himself avoided the eye contact of everyone in the small building. He followed the older man to the back corner where a small amount of PC games resided. “I want you to pick a game you can play online.”

 

Keith's jaw dropped, now hearing the answer to his original question; “What? Why?”

 

His father placed a hand on his shoulder, “I think it would be good for you, get you to socialize and talk to people. Hopefully, make some friends.”

 

A hurt kind of sigh found its way through Keith's lips; “Why? No one wants to talk to me in real life, why would this be different?”

 

“Because you'll already have one thing in common; you'll be playing the same game. No one is going to know it's you behind the screen and I think a little anonymity will do you some good.”

 

“Ugh... Can't you just throw me in jail instead?”

 

His dad laughed, petting his shoulder; “Now, now, it's not going to be that bad.” he turned to look through the selection. A bright smile appeared on his face as he took one of the game boxes into his hands; “How about this one?”

 

Keith glanced over the box, resisting the urge to facepalm; “I'm not one of your fire-fighting geeks.” He says flatly.

 

“Geeks? I'll have you know we have been playing the same campaign since we were in college. Monsters and Mana is so much more than a game, it's quite the bonding experience.” His dad defended, the smile never leaving his face; “And you used to be quite fond of the world too. I remember reading stories to you based in that realm.” His smile brightened; “I also recall you asking to make a character when you were little. Remember Yorak?”

 

Keith felt his face flush. As quickly as he could he shoved the game box against his dad's chest; “Yes, fine, get the game. Just stop talking.” And just as quickly he moved towards the entrance, leaving his father to go to the checkout.

 

The blonde behind the counter smiled, seeing the purchase; “Would you be interested in the collector's edition or just the standard today?”

 

The smile was radiant; “Oh, the collector's, please.”

 

***

 

The two returned home just as dinner was being put on the table. Krolia eyed her husband as they entered the kitchen, “How did it go?”

 

He held up a large box; “Great, we'll start installing after we eat.”

 

“They made an online game for Monsters and Mana?” she asks with a quirked brow, taking her seat at the table; “Is this a punishment for him or a present for you?”

 

“That's what I said.” Keith commented, taking his own seat.

 

Krolia's husband merely smirked as he sat the box down next to his chair; “You joke, but you know how close the guys and I are because of the tabletop version, imagine what kinds of friendships can be forged with a version that reaches players all over the world.”

 

Keith had to resist the urge to shudder, no pressure at all...

 

“You didn't need to buy the special, more _expensive,_ version though.” he states, hoping it would divert any attention his apprehensiveness might have drawn.

 

Krolia gave her spouse a knowing look; “There was a cheaper version?”

 

“Yes, but this came with some in-game items, plus a really nice statue of a wolf. Keith likes wolves.” His father reasoned.

 

“I like cheesecake too, but I don't see you dropping a hundred and fifty bucks on a flavor I might not like.”

 

“If there is a cheesecake that costs that much it better be the best dessert in the universe.” his dad retorts.

 

Krolia simply shook her head. She knew well enough her husband's love for the game, “You might end up liking it and are glad to have those unique items.”

 

“And if I don't?”

 

“The we'll find something else, but we really want you to keep an open mind and give this an honest try.” she replied, handing him a plate of meatloaf. She began to load up another plate as she continued; “Though we will have to have some ground rules.”

 

Keith rolled his eyes, his focus now on the peas on his plate that he was idly playing with.

 

“School still comes first, so all of your homework needs to be done before you play.” she paused for a reaction, but didn't wait long when she didn't receive one; “I still expect you down for dinner every night with us; I am also well aware that online games do not pause so I am willing to give you some wiggle room, but always be mindful of the time.” Another pause, no reaction. “And lastly, I want you to play at least one hour a day, whatever happens, happens. Sound good?”

 

“Great...” He muttered in response, taking in small forkfuls of food.

 

Keith picked at his dinner as the conversation between his parents shifted to talking about their workday prior to the school calling them. Few words actually made it to his ears; like his mother working out an internship opportunity for the Marmora Foundation or his father saying it was rather quiet at the firehouse. It wasn't more than fifteen minutes into their eating that Keith rose from his seat. His dad looked up to him, then to his half eaten meal. Keith followed his concerned gaze; “I'm not really that hungry.” he says, as if to ease his parents' worry; “I'm just gonna get started on my homework.” he pushed his chair in, the made his way to the staircase.

 

Unlike earlier, his parents could only hear the small creak from the door's hinges as it opened and closed.

 

Once inside Keith made his way to his bed, kneeling down to the carpeted floor, bending down all the way to reach for something that resided underneath the mattress. After a few moments, he finally managed to get a grasp on it, pulling the box forward and into view. He ran a hand along the top, clearing it of dust. Slowly and carefully he opened it; inside, on the top of the stack of papers was a crayon drawing of a purple figure with the name 'Yorak' written in all capital letters and a backwards R.

 

Though he wasn't going to admit it to his parents, he was secretly excited to start this new adventure, to bring back a piece of himself.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing for Keith's dad is so hard when I don't have a name for him. If anyone has some suggestions I'm willing to take 'em so I can call him something. I loved writing for him though.
> 
> Fun fact his Monsters and Mana game is a reference to my husband's super hero campaign that is still on going and we have been playing that for nineteen years
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/LusciaKoushiro) to see how fics are progressing! ^_^


	2. Chapter 2

Keith spent the next ten minutes rifling through the box, giving a sad smile at each picture he passed; it pained him to remember why he gave it up in the first place, because in the end, it didn't matter. A knock on his door startled him, “Just a sec!” he said hurriedly. He hastily placed the papers back in the box and shoved it back under his bed. He rose to his feet, making his way to the door.

 

When he opened it, his father's smiling face greeted him, holding the game box under one arm and his backpack in the other hand; “Kind of hard to do homework without this.”

 

“Thanks...” He took his backpack, moving to the side after he did so to let his father in; “I take it you want to install now.”

 

“Seems like a good time, if it finishes at a decent hour you can make your character tonight and dive right in.” he said, taking a seat in the computer chair at the desk.

 

Keith takes up a spot on his bed, removing a couple books and folders from his bag. He leaned against the fluff of his pillows as he starts on the tedious school work, but every now and then he would look at his dad out of the corner of his eye, watching his face beam with excitement and wonder. Keith couldn't help but remember when he first created Yorak and how excited his dad was to share that world with him, even if he was only four years-old at the time. He wants that passion again.

 

***

 

It took nearly five hours; between the initial install, registering the game and its codes, plus creating the account itself, and download all the current patches before Keith could sit down and access the game. His father had long since headed to bed in preparation of an early day, despite his childish desire to stay up to see it in action. Keith was a little grateful to be honest, he didn't need his dad getting all mushy when Yorak comes to life, at least not tonight.

 

The box had come back out and he inspected each drawing he made over the years, the character getting a slightly different design. “Hm...” he hummed, looking through his options in the character generator; to his surprise there was quite a few. Race was always going to be the same, he couldn't imagine him being anything besides Galra. He tinted the skin a medium lavender, selected the piercing cat-like eyes, making them blueish-violet like his own while making the sclera a pale yellow. But now he had a dilemma; his original concept had the character with pointed ears, but the last version had more fluffy, cat-like ears and a lion-esc tail. The hair too was a stumper; the concepts ranging from very short white hair, to the hair length he himself has currently; just above his shoulders, in either white or his own raven color. He hovered the cursor over multiple styles, stopping abruptly on one in the center row of options. He stared at it on his character model and as if it was a sign he selected it and feeling like he knew just how he wanted him to look; dying the base color of the hair the dark brown, almost black with red highlights, the black looking like it was cascading into the red and mixing well into the braid. He then shrank the cat ears; they were still large, but small enough where it didn't deter attention from the beautiful locks and he ultimately decided to stick with the sleek lion's tail.

 

Keith smiled at the face looking back at him. He knew exactly what class he was going to start as too. Over the years the character's backstory has evolved, growing up with him, but was always an ninja; a train assassin through every incarnation. Thankfully in terms of gameplay he could change his class at any point if he didn't like how it played, without having to remake the character. He filled in the other little character info like birthday; which he just used his own and elemental alignment. He read through each description, deciding on fire suiting both him and Yorak best and lastly he had to choose a home world. He scrolled through the names, going to the bottom of the list, selecting the “Voltron” server. With that Yorak was complete, all that was left was to hit start and dive right in, but that plunge would have to wait until tomorrow, fore his bed was beckoning him after the emotional day he had.

 

***

 

As always school seemed to drag on for the teen, the droning of each teacher seeming to get worse as the day slogged on. The moment the final bell echoed through the halls, Keith was dashing to the lot to his car and speeding off. The sooner he got home and did his homework, the sooner he could start Yorak's adventure.

 

As to not get too distracted, he opted to do his school work in the kitchen. He grabbed a snack from one of the cupboards then went for something to drink only to find a note from his mother;

 

_Keith,_

_Sorry this is short notice, but I'm working late tonight. Your father should be home at his usual time, but just in case could you make dinner tonight? It's technically made, you just need to heat it up. Mushroom lasagna in the fridge, four hundred degrees for two hours. Thanks, honey._

 

_Love,_

_Mom_

 

Keith noted the time, just passed two-thirty and his dad was usually home by six. He moved to the stove to preheat the oven, grabbed a soda from the fridge, then proceeded to remove his homework from his backpack. By his calculations he should be able to get all his school work done within an hour at most.

 

And just like that an hour had flown by with him finishing the last assigned reading and his notes for said book. He threw dinner in the oven, setting the timer on both the oven and his phone before he gathered his things and bounded up the stairs.

 

Kosmo lifted his head from where he lay on the bed, Keith greeting him with a smile; “Hey Boy, do you need to go out before I start my punishment?” He watched the animal stand and hop off the bed, giving a little 'woof' in response. “I'll take that as a 'yes'.” he turned on his heels, patting his leg; “Come on.” He lead his faithful companion to the backyard, watched him do his business and it was back to his room.

 

Keith sat in his chair while waiting for his machine to boot up, with Kosmo resting his head on his lap, enjoying the gentle strokes his master provided. “I hope this will be fun...” he leaned back in the chair, prompting Kosmo to follow somewhat, standing on his hind legs, his front paws and head on Keith's chest. The pets continued, as did his one-sided conversation, “I missed Yorak, ya know? I still remember everything about him, even things I scrapped.” He paused, sighing as he looked into the dog's eyes; “At least no one should make fun of me on here, right?

 

Kosmo responded by licking the boy's face, resulting in a sweet, soft laugh. “Thanks.”

 

Kosmo retreated to the bed when Keith pivoted his chair to face the monitor. He started the game's launcher, logged into his account and stared at his avatar. The smile from the night before on his face once more. He really did like this character design. He clicked on Yorak's name, a small pop-up comes onto the screen; _Log in with Yorak?_ He inhaled deeply; “Here goes nothing...” he said upon the exhale, clicking on the yes option. The game made a chime, the camera zoomed in then as it faded to black.

 

 _It soon came back, with the sounds of a crowd, the sounds of war behind the darkened screen when the images began to play; the sky was painted red and gray from the fire and smoke. An anguishing grunt was heard, a man with white hair and a white beard fell to the platform of the bridge with a thud, the armor clanking with an echo off the rails. The man's much taller and larger opponent turned slowly to where the other had fallen, his eyes vacant; nothing but the sclera visible as it glowed an eerie yellow, his voice low as he said; “Victory or death, old friend...” The cinematic ended, transitioning with Yorak opening his eyes. A Galran warrior nudged him in the shoulder;_ _“Hey, you okay? You looked like you were having a nightmare.._

 

A pop-up appeared, two options within it;

 

_You could say that, I'm not sure what it was..._

_or_

_Maybe? I guess that's what I get for eating something from the back of a Yalmor drawn carriage._

 

Keith looked the answers over, opting for the first option.

 

_The warrior nodded, after listening to the adventurer's story. “I don't think it's anything to worry about; the emperor and the king have been close friends for years, even before either took the throne. No matter what, the two of them have never let something personal come between the kingdoms. Their people always come first.” The NPC craned its neck then looked back to the player; “The main city is in sight.”_

 

_The scene panned up to show the vast and busy city, a palace off in the distance. A title and logo appeared in the fore front; Monsters and Mana ONLINE._

 

The screen then fades out then back in, Yorak now standing with the warrior from before. Dialog now appearing in text windows, the NPC instructs him to explore a little, but not to dally and keep the emperor waiting.

 

Keith was now free to roam, only to feel a slight discomfort as he attempted to move Yorak. “Hm, I wonder if I can change the controls...” He placed a hand on his mouse, clicking through the side menu buttons. Finally after a few minutes of searching he locates the section for keybinding. He places his fingers along the keys, lightly touching them to get a taste of what will work and feel right for him. Once satisfied he moves about the city; talking to some NPCs he passes. In the center of town there is a large crystal and according to the NPC next to it, it is a Battle Grade Balmeran Crystal. _“Hahaha, don't let the classification scare you.” he says; “The rank grading just indicates how powerful it is. This not only generates power for the entire kingdom, but it can also allow you to transport between crystals all over the world. You should attune your Quintessence to it, might come in handy one day.”_

 

“Huh, I'm actually impressed they gave a lore reason for the port system.” Keith says to himself as he watched Yorak with his arm outstretched to touch the crystal.

 

He grabbed a couple side quests and did them as he explored, surprising himself again that he was already level four and he hadn't even gone to the palace yet, let alone go outside. He found the “Ninja's Guild”, accepting the tutorial quest of sorts that had him hunting certain mobs outside the kingdom's walls. He was just about to enter the palace when he heard a voice from downstairs.

 

“Keith, I'm home!”

 

Keith looked to his phone, the clock reading five of six. He stood from his chair, whistled for Kosmo to follow and made his way downstairs. “Good timing.” he says, waving his phone from side to side; “Dinner's just about done.”

 

They enter the kitchen together, his father taking his seat as Keith took care of getting their meal out of the oven and onto plates.

 

“You seem to be in a better mood today.” The older man commented.

 

“A little.” he replied with a sigh.

 

“Was school okay?”

 

Keith shrugged; “I guess. No fights if that's what you're asking, just boring and slow.”

 

His dad gave a nod, taking a bite of lasagna before asking; “Did you make your character yet?”

 

“Made it last night, been running around in game for like two hours.”

 

“Oh?” his eyes lit up; “How is it?”

 

Another shrug; “No real opinion yet, I haven't even been outside the starting city. Just did the opening cutscene and side quests. I will say though, that opening scene has me interested in the story already.”

 

“That's great, Son. You'll have to tell me about the story when you're farther along.” he took a couple more bites; “The guys are interested in hearing about how an MMO fairs against old-school role playing.”

 

Keith chuckled; “Well for starters you can tell Jerry that it's much less work since I don't have to come up with plot and encounters only to have my players fuck up my plans.”

 

There was a deep laugh emitting from his father just then, a laugh that came right from his belly; “You have an excellent point, but as players that's admittedly half the fun.”

 

They ate in silence after that, enjoying the hearty pasta dish. His dad got up from his seat, taking a portable container out from the cupboard and placed a fairly large slice within it. Keith noticed the movements, arching an eyebrow; “You bringing that to Mom?”

 

He shook his head; “I have to do the overnight tonight. We're still shorthanded since that flu outbreak last week.”

 

“Oh...” he watched his dad then move to the sink, placing his dirty dish atop of the stack of morning dishes. Keith then stood from his seat, taking his own empty plate into his hand; “I got this, Dad. You should go rest a bit.”

 

There was a sweet smile on the older man's face accompanied by a tender look in his eyes. “Thank you.” he said with a hand to his son's shoulder. He backed off the sink to head out of the kitchen. He stopped in the doorway, looking back to the teen; “Hey Son,”

 

Keith turned his head to look at him; “Yeah, Dad?”

 

“Show me the game sometime soon, okay?”

 

The tiniest of smiles tugged at the end of his lips, picking up on the subtle meaning within his tone; “Sure. Good night, Dad.”

 

“Night, Son.” He watched for just a second more as Keith returned to doing his chore before retiring to his room for a small respite.

 

***

 

Keith continued his gameplay, going through more of the main story quests, entering the palace had granted him access to his Bayard; a key item that would allow him to change classes.

 

By the time he made it outside to fully explore the land around the Kingdom of Daibazaal, he was already level ten, almost eleven. He ran around killing mobs on his hunter's log for the Ninja's Guild as well as discovered the Conflict system; a timed, larger scale battle out in the field that rewarded its players with a chunk of EXP and GAC, the game's currency.

 

He yawned, noting the hour, eleven forty-two. He logged off the game, shutting down his computer as well. He got out of his chair and headed downstairs, the lights mostly off, making him well aware that neither of his parents were home. He made his way into the kitchen, turning on the light as he entered. Keith removed a plate, bowl and plastic container from the cupboard, then proceeded to cut up slices of lasagna, placing one on the plate and the rest in the container. He put the leftovers in the fridge, in exchange he pulling out a head of lettuce and cucumber before closing the refrigerator door. Taking the food to the counter, he brought the bowl closer to him, beginning to tare the pieces of the leafy greens off the head. Upon going to get a knife, he reached for a tomato that resided in a hanging basket just above the sink by the window. He sliced and diced the ingredients up, placing them into the bowl. Keith rinsed off the knife before wrapping the plate and bowl in plastic wrap. He rummaged through the junk drawer to pull out a sticky-note pad and grabbed the pen that was attached to the shopping list pad on the fridge;

 

_Mom,_

_I'm sorry about yesterday... I love you._

 

_-Keith_

 

He stuck it onto the bowl then placed both in the fridge. The teen finished his nightly routine of brushing his teeth and changing into his sleep wear before crawling into bed and passing out in the darkness.

 

Roughly an hour later his door opened with a slow and soft creak. Keith was sound asleep, only to stir slightly, but never wake, to the tender touch of slender fingers combing through his hair. “I love you too, Little Star...” His mother whispered into his ear, then leaned over to kiss his forehead. She stayed with him for awhile, just watching him sleep before her own fatigue was weighing her down, sending her to her own bed. She didn't even bother changing out of her classy business suit and was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/LusciaKoushiro) to see how fics are progressing! ^_^


	3. Chapter 3

The following afternoon had Keith in almost the same rhythm, except the note left by his mother said she was bringing home Chinese food. He finished his homework quickly, thankfully doing a chunk of it during his free period at the end of the day. Why they wouldn't just let students go home early, he'll never know. He took care of Kosmo and was logged in at around three-thirty.

 

He continued with the main story quests and picked up any side quests he came across. Time just seemed to be slipping by him and before he knew it he could hear his father calling for him, soon followed by his mother. Keith finished watching the current cutscene, which showed Yorak ducking behind some crates and other cargo within the cargo hold of a ship. The character watched with a keen eye as two hooded figures conversed. The scene went black, zoning Yorak into a port town at the docks.

 

Keith stood from his chair with a stretch, giving a whistle to the slumbering dog, “Come on, Boy.” Once in the kitchen he helped set the table and filled their drinking glasses with their beverage of choice.

 

They passed around the containers, Kosmo hopping from person to person; to whomever had the chicken fingers, spare ribs or beef terriyaki.

 

“Kosmo, down.” Krolia commanded, “One more jump like that and you're going outside.”

 

Keith had to chuckle, the threat was clearly empty as he watched his loyal pet saunter up to his dad, who just 'slyly' gave the dog a strip of beef under the table.

 

Krolia gave him a look of 'why do I bother?'; “Trevor Kogane, what am I going to do with you?”

 

Her husband just laughed, “Oh, one small piece isn't gonna hurt him.” he cupped the dog's face in his hands; “Isn't that right, Kosmo?” Kosmo had his tongue hanging out, drooling slightly onto the older man's hands. Trevor made an unamused face. “Okay, it might not hurt you, but your breath could kill...”

 

“And that's what you get for feeding him under the table.” Krolia retorted.

 

Keith snorted as he snickered at the banter, the sound attracting the attention of both his parents. They smiled at the sound.

 

“I missed hearing that.” Krolia commented, reaching her hand out to place it atop of the one Keith had resting next to his plate. “How was school?”

 

“Same as always.” he replied with a shrug.

 

“How about the game?” Trevor inquired.

 

“Game's good. Combat is a little tricky with the camera so far in, kinda hard to see effects on the ground, I keep getting clipped.” Keith took in a few forkfuls of spare rib before continuing; “Story continues to be interesting. Right now I am tracking two cloaked people whose agenda has something to with 'in the name of research'.”

 

His dad smiled; “Just like you used to do with Yorak.”

 

Keith blushed; “Y-yeah... I guess.”

 

“How about the people? Have you made any friends?” His mom asked, her voice gentle.

 

Keith shook his head, “No, not yet. Oddly, everything I have done has been solo, so no real need to talk to anyone.” he took a few bites of lo mien, “But what interactions I have had in Conflicts haven't been horrible. A couple nice players resed me when I died.” he paused for a drink; “And then died again immediately after.”

 

Krolia gave an understanding nod; “Well I'm glad you're enjoying your time on there.”

 

Keith nodded in return, then went about eating his dinner.

 

Thirty minutes later he was back in his room continuing the main story. The words he had said to his mom earlier came back to bite him in the butt as he watched Yorak spy on the cloaked figures and witnessed them vanish into the depths of a cavern on the shoreline. Gold, capital letters appeared on the screen, _WEBLUM UNLOCKED_ , then in a black text box with white lettering, it instructed him to use the Mission Recruiter to complete the task or ask for the assistance of friends.

 

Keith leaned back in his chair, staring at the screen; “Made it to level eighteen and now they decide it's a good time to socialize?” he commented with a sigh; “Guess it's time to bite the bullet...” he goes through his menus to locate the dungeon, highlighting the only option and telling it to launch. Keith glanced to the right side of his screen where the quests he had active were marked, the mission at the very top and at that moment he was glad he didn't take a sip of his water because he would have spit-taked upon seeing the average wait time; “Twenty minutes? Are you kidding me?” It was only touching eight o'clock, so he had plenty of time, but still, that was quite the wait. “I guess I'll do some quests and Conflicts then...”

 

He busied himself for a few moments before a knock was at his door. “Come in.” he said while moving Yorak to a safe spot.

 

Krolia opened the door and stepped through with Kosmo close behind. She smiled, “I made you a snack.” she placed a small plate of chocolate chip cookies on the clear spot on his desk.

 

“Thanks.” he picked one up, breaking it in half, handing the other half to his mother; “Dad head back to the firehouse?”

 

She nodded.

 

“What about you? Don't you have some work to do?”

 

“Nothing that can't wait until tomorrow. I was hoping I could watch you play for a little bit.”

 

“Uh...” he glanced to the timer in the corner while nibbling on his cookie; “Sure? Just...”

 

“Just?”

 

“Just don't get your hopes up.”

 

Krolia draped one arm around him in a partial hug while using her other hand to gently comb her fingers through his hair; “This is all new to you, my Little Star. I meant what I said earlier; I'm glad you're enjoying it on here. I just want to see you have fun tonight.”

 

“Thanks, Mom.” he replied, placing a hand on her wrist in an attempt to calm his anxiety.

 

“Anytime.” She placed a soft kiss atop of his head; “So, tell me what you're doing.” she let him hold on a few more minutes before taking a seat on his bed with Kosmo laying next to her, his head resting on her thigh.

 

Keith returns to moving Yorak around, explaining he's just doing side quests and Conflicts while he waits in the dungeon queue.

 

“Why such a long wait?” Krolia questioned.

 

Keith shrugged; “If I had to guess, it might be my role doing it.”

 

“Role?”

 

Even though Keith hadn't been in a party yet, he knew that each class had a specific role to play in a party setting, so he went on about the basic gist of the Tank, Healer and DPS dynamic.

 

After a couple Conflicts and side quests, reaching the seventeen minute mark on the queue, a chime sound echoed through his speakers, alerting him of the queue's pop with a window appearing. He took a deep breath, selecting okay. He and his mom watched as the other slots filled, the screen going black, transitioning to show the caverns filled with water, colorful rocks and an eerie yet beautiful glow on something that could be coral if Keith were to guess. The camera pans to show a close up of Yorak in his mismatch of armor along side three other player characters. One was a Galra like him with the cat-like ears, but her skin tone was that of a flesh color, her hair was light brown and blue and her tail was on the fluffy side. Next to her was a Tiefling with platinum blond hair with red tips. She had flesh toned scales that rested on her tanned skin and last was a small Halfling that barely came up to Yorak's knees, his hair hidden by the large mage hat he donned.

 

When the short cutscene ended, a message appeared on his screen, stating that one or more players were new to the mission and an extra reward would be given upon a swift completion. He could now see his chat log, the Tiefling with her axe drawn seemed to have been ranting.

 

_(Tia) I don't think the roulette knows the meaning the word. It's always this place, even though we're all at least level thirty._

 

_(Luscia) Well at least there's someone new who needs it._

 

Luscia, who seemed to be the healer, waved to him.

 

Keith swallowed, typing in chat.

 

_(Yorak) Yeah, sorry..._

 

_(Luscia) Don't be, Tia's just ranting cause this is our fourth day in a row getting this place, but you're the first new person we have seen, so no worries. Feel free to ask us anything. ^^_

 

_(Yorak) Thanks._

 

_Tia, the tank, then sped off once Luscia finish casting their protective shields, pulling the first set of three; two mobs in each set, before stopping to fight. The trash mobs went down easily, moving forward into the next set. During these next pulls, the wizard had moved to a side room before sprinting back to the party._

 

_(Utile) Right, left, back_

 

_(Yorak) What?_

 

_(Luscia) It's the order we need to open up the path to the first boss. Otherwise we take massive AoE damage and more trash will spawn._

 

_(Utile) It's also good to note that it's not the same order every time, so always check the crystal room near the start and read the note._

 

_(Yorak) Good to know._

 

_Tia taps the colored, crystal-like coral in the order the wizard had given, the back wall opening up and sucking them in. A long fall followed with them landing in the first boss chamber; a large parasite loomed over them._

 

Krolia and Keith both cringed at the screen.

 

_(Tia) Nothing too special about this guy, just watch out for the AoE around him, does a nasty paralyze. That's about it._

 

A menu popped up; _Tia initiates a Ready Check._ Keith clicks ready, the count indicating all were set, then the boss was pulled.

 

It took no time at all to defeat the monster and claim their reward in the loot pool; a unique Cleric staff for that dungeon.

 

_(Luscia) You're welcome to 'Greed' it, if you want it._

 

_(Yorak) Okay, thanks._

 

And he does and wins with no contest. Keith doubts he'll ever level a healing class; not wanting the responsibility of keeping the party alive, but it couldn't hurt to have it in case he changed his mind.

 

_The party continued on through the trash mobs, opening a couple chests along the way to the second boss chamber; an overgrown plant. It looked like some kind of poisonous flower with teeth, its vines flailing about._

 

_(Tia) This ones more healing heavy._

 

_(Luscia) It's just going to keep stacking poison so just be in range of me for AoE heals, which is no problem for you as a melee, but for future reference._

 

Another Ready Check, another pull, another win, though this victory left the Halfling dead on the ground.

 

_(Luscia) And that is why you should stand within melee range in this fight even if you are a caster._

 

_(Utile) And healers should adjust! :P_

 

The party waited for the wizard to return before moving on to the final wave of trash mobs. Once at the final chamber Keith was again in a cutscene.

 

_The cloaked figures were tearing some kind of circular glass from the floors and walls. One of the begins turned, catching sight of the approaching Yorak. A dark aura encircled his hand, infusing the glass in its palm before throwing it into a pond that resided behind them. The water now tainted a grimy yellow and black began to bubble, the large suction cups on the walls started to pulsate, emitting some sort of gas as the earth trembled beneath their feet. Yorak attempted to run forward only to have to stop and steady himself from the quake. The robed figures had vanished and now emerging from the bubbling depths was a fish like creature, walking on two legs and its flesh and scales melting off its body. It let out this horrific screech as the camera panned back to Yorak, who unleashed his daggers._

 

“And I thought the parasite was disgusting.” Krolia commented.

 

Keith gave a nod; “Leaves me wondering what else is in store if they're already unleashing the nightmare fuel in the first dungeon.”

 

Once he could move again he positioned himself behind the party.

 

_(Tia) So with this one we're just going to burn it down as fast as we can. Lus will take care of the actual mechanic._

 

_(Luscia) Most parties don't even bother with that much, but in case you ever do, some of that bubbling water from the cutscene will appear in the four small pools, just click on it to quell it. If you don't, adds will spawn._

 

_(Tia) Also, when the second bar fills, the one that's goldish at the top of the screen, go ahead and use it at like ten percent._

 

_(Yorak) What is that bar?_

 

_(Utile) Your Last Resort meter._

 

_(Tia) Or as Lus likes to call it the “Oh Shit Button” lol_

 

_Tia initiates a Ready Check._

 

_(Yorak) lol_

 

Keith chuckles behind the screen as well as he clicks ready.

 

The fight was really as simple as the party had described it, only a couple of adds had spawned due to three of the pools bubbling at once. At about the ten percent mark, Keith went through his menu to locate the Last Resort action. He and Krolia watched as Yorak had a big burst of energy around him, then in the blink of an eye he vanished from his spot to appear on the boss' back, jamming the knives into the base of its neck then pulling them out in an arching slash before back flipping off, taking the last of the enemy's HP. The screen transitioned to the party doing a victory pose with Yorak front and center. He folded his arms, leaning ever so slightly to his right, giving a please smile as his ears wiggled.

 

When the cutscene ended, the loot was already in the pool and the party stood at the exit.

 

_(Utile) Grats on your first dungeon clear, hope it wasn't too bad._

 

_(Yorak) Not at all, was fun. Thanks for the help._

 

_(Luscia) Good luck with the rest, hope to see you again. ^^_

 

_Tia waved._

 

Before he could react to the second tab at the top of his screen, the three players zoned out. The two pieces of gear that dropped; a new pair of daggers and a better body piece, were placed in his inventory. After equipping them he followed suit with his party and left the area, upon exiting, in his chat log, he saw the same message repeated three times; _You received a Player Commendation._

 

“Well that wasn't so bad.” Krolia said with a tender smile, clearly happy she witnessed the moment. “They seemed nice.”

 

“Yeah.., I wouldn't mind running into them again.”

 

Krolia stood from her spot on the mattress, moving to stand behind her son. The smile never leaving her face as she kissed the top of his head; “Don't stay up too late, alright?”

 

“I won't.”

 

She gave him a quick hug before heading to the door, only to stop a few inches away when she heard her son's voice again.

 

“Hey, Mom?”

 

“Yes?” She turned to face him.

 

Keith's cheeks were a little flushed; “Could you not tell Dad about Yorak?”

 

She looked at him slightly confused and a little worried.

 

“I want to surprise him.” He admitted, the hint of a smile at his lips; “Yorak was something special, for him and I, back then-” he stopped when he saw his mother raise a hand, signaling him to do so.

 

“You have my word I won't spoil your surprise.” she reached for the doorknob. Before she completely slipped through the door she turned her attention to her son again; “It's good to have him back.” With that she closed the door behind her.

 

Keith turned his attention back to the game, running Yorak back to the port town to finish the quest. That hint of a smile was now full on his face as he watched his character run; “It's good to be back.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) I wanted to give a nod to my character as well as my husband and some friends as they helped inspire this story as a whole. Utile was actually one of the first friends I made back on FFXI whom I still talk to to this day and play FFXIV with now.  
> 2) Tia's comment about the roulette happens more times than I want to admit to my husband and I, with lvling roulette resulting in either Satasha or Copper Bell Mines when we are both 60+ x.x 
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed! Changing prospective in the next chapter, which means we finally get to see our favorite paladin! Please look forward to it!
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/LusciaKoushiro) to see how fics are progressing! ^_^


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With Keith now diving into the game I thought I would make a quick key to signifiy which chat is being used to avoid some confusion just in case.  
> Party chat-  
> (Yorak)  
> Whisper-  
> Player recieving: Yorak>>  
> Player replying: Yorak<<  
> I will do my best to have those convos on one screen to avoid confusion best I can.
> 
> Guild Chat-  
> < Yorak >

The air had become brisk with the chill of late fall settling in, the trees colorful; though starting to shed from their branches as they scatter among the breeze. A tall, broad man jogged at a quick pace with his long strides, his dark hair beginning to stick to his forehead from sweat. After another block he reached his apartment complex and rode the elevator to the fifth floor, leaning against the support rail; grateful for the much needed breather. As he exited the elevator he proceeded to pull the earbuds from his ears, coiling them around his phone. It was only a few steps to his apartment, with it being four doors down from the elevators and unlocked his door.

 

The space was quite large, especially for a nineteen year-old college student, but when you shared everything with your boyfriend of four years who happened to get a full scholarship, you wanted nothing but the best. Of course, even the best sometimes couldn't keep the feeling of the walls closing in on you away. The young man walked over to the sit down counter that divided the kitchen from the living room, his steel gaze resting on the two orange pill bottles that resided atop of a slip of paper;

 

_Takashi,_

 

_We're having dinner with a few friends tonight at seven sharp. Please remember to take your meds and get some rest before then._

 

_Love you,_

_-Adam_

 

He sighed heavily, crumpling up the note and tossing it in the trash; “You could have at least asked me.” he muttered. Before anger could completely seep in; the low, muffled sounds of a 'meow' could be heard from a room down, coming closer. A moment later his face softened at the sight of his black kitten, who had a plush black and white cat in her mouth. “Aw, hey, Black.” he watched her drop the plush that was bigger than she was, then meow directly at him. He smiled, picking up the toy and then his little ball of fur, who purred against his chest; “Did you want to play for a couple minutes?” he asked, walking into the bedroom.

 

He set the kitten down on the mattress, then crouched to the floor with the kitty plush, moving it from side to side; its head bobbling along with each movement. Black watched with bright gold eyes, inching closer to pounce. When she made her move, the plush vanished from her line of sight only to slowly arise again over the edge of the bed, booping her on the nose. Takashi laughed as the kitten jumped back. He moved the toy closer, allowing her to wrap her tiny paws around it, wrestling it down to the mattress, her back paws fluttering against it.

 

“Wish I could play with you awhile longer, little girl, but I have some things to do before Adam comes home to get me.” The kitten stopped her playing at the word 'Adam', giving her master a look. “Believe me, I know.” He said as he stood up, straightening from his crouched position, and entered the second bedroom that had been converted into an office more or less. He moved the mouse to his computer, waking it up, then took a seat in the cushy computer chair. Checking the time, noting he only had just about two and a half hours, he took to Twitter, tweeting out;

 

 **Shiro** @JiroShirogane01

_Stream will be live in about twenty minutes._

 

After the tweet was sent he gathered some clean clothes and headed for the shower, leaving the door open slightly for Black, just in case she needed to get in. Shiro stood under the hot stream of water, his forehead resting against the cool tile of the wall, his thoughts lingering on the note. Try as he might, it still left a bitter taste in his mouth. This had become the norm for him; since their first year of college, since actually moving in together. He and Adam were high school sweethearts, but over time it felt like that lovey-dovey phase had long since past.

 

Shiro did a quick scrub down and washed his hair before stepping out to towel off and turn off the water. He stared at his reflection as he stood in front of the sink. He sighed as he leaned forward, against the porcelain, bringing his thumb, middle and index fingers of his right hand to his forelock; touching a noticeable amount of white. “I'm going to be completely white at the rate I'm going...”

 

Letting go of his hair he reached out to open the medicine cabinet, frowning as he removed a few things of make-up; some concealer and color correct. Another sigh escaped his lips as he closed the small door; beginning the tedious process of covering up the scar that rested over the bridge of his nose. It took everything he had in him in that moment to keep his focus and look at his reflection; he hated hiding a part of himself.

 

Once he was 'presentable', Shiro wondered back into his office with Black trotting right behind him. He took a seat in his chair, getting Black situated in his lap. Upon hearing her purr in contentment, he loaded up Twitch, along with his broadcasting software and Monsters and Mana: ONLINE. While the game processed his login, he went through his folder of in-game screenshots to place over the chat window; choosing an action shot of his human Paladin doing a spinning slash. Feeling satisfied with his set up he returned to Twitter, tweeting out the link with a short message;

 

 **Shiro** @JiroShirogane01

_Come join me for a quick stream. Now Live!_

 

He loaded a playlist from Youtube, then placed his headphones on his head and adjusted the position of his mic; “Hello,” he said to his chat; “is the volume okay? I had to readjust some things since last stream.” He watched a few members in chat say that the music was kind of soft. “The music is low? Okay, gimme a sec.” Shiro fiddled with a few settings, attempting to find a balance; “That good?” He received a couple one word answers; 'perfect', 'better' and the rest spammed happy or joyous emotes.

 

Shiro smiled; “Good. How is everyone today?” A few more one word replies came up as well as some lengthier responses; “I'm doing better now that I'm home, school sucked.” Shiro read aloud; “I'm sorry school was rough, be sure to relax a little okay? That goes for all of you.” He watched the chat fill up with all the hug and heart emotes.

 

_**SharpShooter003:** Why the early stream today?_

 

Shiro ran around in game for a minute, sending out his vassals on fetch quests and adding items to be sold on the auction house before glancing to his chat, reading SharpShooter's message aloud. “Real life plans, but I still wanted to spend time with you all.” He glanced to the clock; “I think I am going to do some Mentor roulettes since I have just under two hours. But feel free to ask any questions.”

 

His roulettes were quick, thankfully, either netting him a Hard Mode Rift Fiend fight or an early dungeon that barely took fifteen minutes to finish; all the while he continued to smile fondly and laughed along with his chat

 

_**LalaPotato:** When are you going to get some emotes?_

 

Shiro read the question aloud as he finished up another dungeon; “Good question. I'm still talking with some artists and trying to budget it out, but they will be coming eventually.” Immediately after he responded did someone reply with; “Just draw them yourself .” He reads. It was then quickly followed by a snort and chuckle; “Oh, you don't want that. I can barely draw a stick figure.”

 

That prompted the chat to explode in requests to play Pictionary. Shiro's smile grew even wider at their enthusiasm, “I'll look into it. Maybe we can set up something on the weekends.”

 

He glanced over to the clock; “Looks like I have time for one more roulette, sorry it wasn't much today, but I promise to make it up to everyone.” Being a tank had its advantages, practically instant queues were one of them as the typical chime and pop-up made its presence known. Clicking on okay his screen faded to black and loaded him into a volcano like arena; flames encircling the battlefield. Shiro moved his mouse over the mission specs, revealing to him that it was the story mode version of the fight; “Looks like we have someone new.” he said, taking note that one of the other three players was viewing the cutscene.

 

A few more minutes pass with the new player still watching the story unfold and the other two party members were becoming restless. The Halfling cleric kept running around the tiny barrier that encased them, all the while running his mouth as well.

 

_(Rolyat) Come on, just fucking skip it already!_

 

_(Rolyat) We could have killed this thing ten times by now._

 

_(Rolyat) Fucking noob!_

 

Shiro sighed as he watched the in game chat. He glanced to his stream chat, seeing some of them commenting on his sighing and hearing the chimes he had for his party chat going off frequently; “The healer is being a bit of an ass.” he tells them flatly.

 

The barrier breaks with the last member, Yorak, zoning in.

 

_(Rolyat) About fucking time! Other people have better things to do than wait for your ass to watch that long ass cutscene. Skip the story and watch it on your own damn time!_

 

_(Yorak) Sorry... I didn't know I could skip it._

 

_(Jiro) Don't be._

 

Shiro paused for a quick second then typed again;

 

_(Jiro) Do you know how this fight works?_

 

Before Yorak could even give an answer, the cleric ran forward; pulling the fire fiend with its damage over time spell.

 

“What the actual fuck?” Shiro muttered as he watched the pull. Quickly he typed;

 

_(Jiro) Just follow our lead._

 

It wasn't the best instructions, but it was all he could do as he dashed forward to provoke the boss, barely saving the impatient healer. Despite the rushed pull, everything was running smoothly until Hell Fire's Rage erupted, wiping the party. The battle had reset and this time Shiro was mid-type when the boss was pulled, once again by the healer and it again results with a wipe.

 

_(Rolyat) God, this fight isn't even hard. Get good, dammit!_

 

_(Jiro) Would you calm down and stop pulling for two seconds?_

 

Shiro then began to type out how the fight is supposed to go, but the cleric for a third time pulls the boss.

 

_(Rolyat) No!_

 

And so for a third time they wipe; a wipe that now resulted in a very frustrated Yorak.

 

_(Yorak) Could someone please tell me what the fuck I am supposed to do?! ><_

 

Shiro again tried to type out the mechanic when he heard the chime of the pop-up window;

 

_Vote Dismiss:_

_Character: Yorak_

_Reason: OFFLINE_

 

Shiro quirked a dark eyebrow; “What? No.” he voiced, clicking the 'no' button, but the next thing he saw was Yorak vanishing from the field. His stream chat exploded with concern and out right curses of 'wtf?!'. Shiro left the battlefield before the now vacant slot could be filled; “Someone clip that for me, please.” He said, now going through his in game menus to report the two players for abuse of the system. “I'm sorry guys, I'm going to end stream here. Hope I can talk to a GM before before I need to go. See you all next time and have a good night.” He turned off the stream and swiftly came in contact with a GM. He opened his contact menu to retrieve the names of the two being reported when he noticed Yorak was on his server. Curious, he loaded up the player search, seeing that Yorak was still online, he decided to send him a whisper.

 

Keith was livid, yelling as he paced across the carpet within his bedroom; “Why?! Why is it so fucking hard for me to have one thing?! One fucking thing that I can enjoy! I knew this was a stupid idea, I'm fucking done.” He muttered the last part, turning back to his computer to shutdown the game and ready to never touch it again when he sees a message from the paladin he had just been in party with.

 

_Jiro >> Are you okay? I'm sorry that happened to you. I reported both players to the GMs, I'm talking with them now._

 

Keith couldn't believe his eyes, sitting back down he replied to the tank;

 

_Jiro << Still angry, but a little better with you asking how I am. No one ever asks me that outside of my family, so thanks._

 

_Jiro >> :( Sorry to hear that, no one should ever be treated that way._

 

A statement like that would have been something Keith normally brushed off, but even through text, something inside him feels that the tank was being honest and genuine. Feeling slight comfort he decides to ask;

 

_Jiro << Can you tell me what I was doing wrong? I know I was the one causing the wipes._

 

_Jiro >> In that fight, there will be a flame spike that will spawn somewhere on the battlefield and it needs to be killed ASAP, otherwise it's an instant wipe. It's a DPS check._

 

_Jiro << Oh... But I didn't see any spike._

 

_Jiro >> Hm, how big is your enemy list? You can resize it to make it a little bigger, so you know when it's on the field. Maybe move it to a better spot to catch your eye?_

 

_Jiro << I don't know... like default size? How do I change it?_

 

Shiro then proceeded to walk Keith through the UI settings then asked;

 

_Jiro >> Also is your camera zoomed out all the way? It can really help with not only spotting adds, but avoiding AoEs as well._

 

Keith felt a tiny rush of heat creeping into his cheeks, slightly embarrassed and feeling a little dumb.

 

_Jiro << You... can zoom out?_

 

_Jiro >> lol, yes._

 

His blush deepened.

 

_Jiro << How?_

 

_Jiro >> If you use a controller, hit L1, otherwise it's just the wheel on your mouse._

 

Keith looked to his right at his plain, old mouse; remembering his optical one had stopped working months ago and he hadn't bothered to replace it.

 

_Jiro << I kind of only play with the keyboard._

 

There was a pause before the next message came through.

 

_Jiro >> Wait, you do everything with just the keyboard?_

 

_Jiro << Yeah... It's kind of a muscle memory thing from a game I used to play. I sort of made a mock setup of it._

 

_Jiro >> Ahh. Okay, go into your settings for your keybinds, there should be an option for zoom in and zoom out you can set._

 

Keith chuckled at himself as he sets the keys;

 

_Jiro << I feel dumb for not noticing that before._

 

_Jiro >> Don't. I know when I started playing, I just wanted to dive right in. I didn't even think about how to setup my hotbars or macros. Games are meant to be fun; there is always time to study the basics, if not just learn them along the way. Some players just need more patience._

 

Keith smiled seeing that,

 

_Jiro << Thanks._

 

_Jiro >> Hey, do you want to try the fight again?_

 

_Jiro << Um..._

 

_Jiro >> You were doing fine and now you know what went wrong. I know you can do it._

 

The next thing Keith sees is a text box pop up; _Jiro invites you to his party._ Keith felt his smile grow wider as he clicked 'yes'.

 

Upon getting into party he noticed Jiro was a level fifty paladin. His smile faltered as his nerves started to come back and get the better of him; the words the Halfling spat out ringing in his ears.

 

_(Yorak) You sure you want to help me? I'm sure a capped tank has better things to do._

 

_(Jiro) Of course I want to help. :) I'd rather help you through the story than hardcore raid, honestly._

 

_(Yorak) That bad, huh?_

 

_(Jiro) A little too serious for my taste, just haven't found the right group yet. Maybe one day._

 

_(Jiro) You ready?_

 

_(Yorak) Yep._

 

_(Yorak) Oh how do I skip the cutscenes?_

 

_(Jiro) Escape._

 

The chime went off and the pop-up appeared immediately. Keith laughed;

 

_(Yorak) Well that beats my normal twenty minute queues._

 

_(Jiro) lol_

 

The cutscene once again loaded, but this time Keith skips it, not needing to see it again. They stood in the barrier, waiting for the healer to get through the cutscene. Keith felt a little relieved that he wasn't the only new player this time. Minutes later the barrier broke with the healer coming out of the scene.

 

_(PhoenixRuby) Sorry about that, I didn't think it would be that long._

 

_(Yorak) Neither did I, but it was good right?_

 

_(PhoenixRuby) The story keeps getting better. I don't know why you would just skip it._

 

_(Jiro) Right?! You're really missing out on something great if you just rush to the endgame._

 

The other DPS, a human monk, gave a cheer.

 

_(Lotus) Agreed._

 

_(Yorak) So, everyone know how this is supposed to work?_

 

When the healer said no, it was Keith who explained the mechanics to her, just as they were explained to him moments before, which made Shiro smile.

 

 _Jiro initiates a Ready Check_ pops up and when the three of them said they were set, they pulled the boss with Jiro lobbing his shield for initial aggro, and on the first try the Fire Rift Fiend was defeated. Upon exiting, Keith gave the healer his player commendation and he received two more.

 

He watched the following cutscene play out; _Yorak slowly approached the withering black creature. It had no face, nothing that could resemble limbs, but it pulsated like a beating heart. Carefully, he placed it in a magically enhanced bottle; one that used to be used to capture fairies or so they say, then looked out into the distance as a low, bestial growl echoed close, but nothing could be seen._

 

When Keith zoned out he saw the paladin sitting on the ground, waiting for him.

 

_(Yorak) Thanks for the help._

 

_(Jiro) Anytime :)_

 

The door to Shiro's apartment opened, followed by a voice calling out; “Takashi?

 

Shiro glanced to the clock, just under the wire for him to be leaving.

 

_(Jiro) I mean that, by the way._

 

Keith watches a new pop-up appear on his screen; _Jiro wants to add you to his friends list._ Keith could hardly believe it, wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on him. After a moment of determining the text box was indeed real, he happily clicked 'yes'.

 

After the request was accepted, Shiro typed again;

 

_(Jiro) I have to log now, but if you see me on and need help or just want to chat, don't hesitate to poke me._

 

_(Yorak) Thanks, that means a lot. I should probably AFK too, to start dinner._

 

_(Jiro) Have a good night, Yorak._

 

_(Yorak) You too, Jiro._

 

Shiro shutdown the game along with his computer and swiveled his chair to face the door where Adam now stood, giving Shiro a slight disapproving look.

 

“Playing games isn't resting.” He said, dryly.

 

Shiro pat Black gently with his finger on the top of her head, waking her from her peaceful slumber. She yawned and hopped off his lap so he could stand; “There are other ways to rest aside from sleep, you know.”

 

“And you haven't been sleeping well lately.”

 

“I'm fine, Adam.”

 

“Did you take your meds?

 

“Was going to on the way out, excuse me.” he said, sliding past his boyfriend. He went into their bedroom to fetch a pair of socks; sitting down on the bed to slide them on his feet; “Who are we meeting up with anyways?”

 

“Just some friends from one of my Psych classes.”

 

“Ah...” was all Shiro could say as he got up to take his meds and toe on his shoes. He was in for a long night....

 

Keith finished up the mission quest after Jiro poofed from his screen before he made his way to the kitchen to begin his preparation of the beef stew. It wasn't long before he heard the deep sound of his father's voice calling him. Keith looked over his shoulder, halting his actions with the knife to see his dad entering the room. “You're home early.” he commented.

 

Trevor gave a tired smile; “Have the graveyard shift again so the guys let me go early to rest and spend time with you two.” He approached the coffee pot, pouring himself the last of the morning's old batch.

 

“Sit, I'll make some more.” Keith said, reaching into the cabinet for the bag of ground coffee.

 

His father gave a pleased hum, heeding his son's request and sat in his usual spot at the table. “How was your day today?”

 

Keith knew better by now that when his father asked that question, it was about the game and not school. He was grateful for that. Keith couldn't keep the smile from tugging at the corners of his lips; “A little frustrating, but good.”

 

“Must be something really good if you're smilin'.”

 

Keith blushed, but the smile never left his face as he turned to look at his father. There was a notable light in his violet eyes as he said; “I made a friend.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the first bad interaction I had on FFXIV. I actually meshed two instances together, but if you play FFXIV you can guess the fight was the story mode for Ifrit. I had come off of playing FFXI and there fore wasn't aware that there were guides to help learn fights for XIV and was used to the party explaining things, but the WHM I had was rather rude, calling me a noob and to get good. I freaked out just as Keith did and the other DPS told me what to do, as well as where to keybind the zoom since I missed it when setting my buttons. We won np after that, however the way the WHM had treated me made it so I didn't play for three days and actually afraid to interact with people. 
> 
> As for Keith getting kicked, well that happened in Heavensward. I was farming the Antitower, fought the second boss, greeded a piece of DRG gear and then the next thing I knew I was back in Gridania. No idea why I was kicked, but this again caused anxiety of playing with random people.
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/LusciaKoushiro) to see how fics are progressing! ^_^


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With Keith now diving into the game I thought I would make a quick key to signifiy which chat is being used to avoid some confusion just in case.  
> Party chat-  
> (Yorak)  
> Whisper-  
> Player recieving: Yorak>>  
> Player replying: Yorak<<  
> I will do my best to have those convos on one screen to avoid confusion best I can.  
> Guild Chat-  
> < Yorak >

The next couple weeks had Keith seeing a little less playtime with his homework feeling like it had doubled and an emergency maintenance popping up; who knew a high tier hunt wasn't supposed to spawn in the middle of a safe zone? But every time he logged in, he would receive a whisper from Jiro that held a /wave, a smilely face or a simple 'hi'. It wasn't much, but the small gestures were enough to wash away any of the bad that the day decoded to smack him with.

 

Today though, had him stuck in DPS queue hell; average wait time was the standard fifteen to twenty minutes, but he had already been waiting for almost forty with the tank or healer bailing out of queue. However, instead of complaining, he took out his sketchbook and drew. It may have been awhile, but he found himself smiling as he drew a pouty Yorak glaring at the Mission Recruiter status. He had started on another drawing; Yorak again, with a playful, but unamused pout, his ears sort of flattening as Jiro ruffled his hair. Keith felt some heat rise to his cheeks as he started to define the lines; he had made Yorak on the smaller side of the Galra race slider and chose a slender, yet toned frame, not unlike himself and seeing him stand next to the tall, broad and muscular human was enough to make him flush. His thoughts began to wonder at just the image of the size difference between the two characters, but he was soon startled by the game's chime; alerting him of a whisper. He would be annoyed that it wasn't his queue finally popping if the sight of the name on the screen didn't delight him so much.

 

_Jiro >> Hey, how's it goin? :)_

 

_Jiro << Hi :) It's going okay, just waiting in DPS hell. How are you? _

 

_Jiro >> I'm doing alright, what are you up to?_

 

_Jiro << Queued up for Taujeer and I have been waiting for almost an hour._

 

_Jiro >> Ohh.... yeah that dungeon sucks, most players will bail on it if they see it in leveling roulette._

 

_Jiro << Lovely._

 

Keith had continued his drawing while he conversed with Jiro and his heart thumped rapidly when he saw the familiar pop-up of Jiro inviting him to party.

 

_(Jiro) Let's see if I can make this faster for you. Worst case scenario we unsync it and I'll owe you exp later, but at least you can continue with the story._

 

Keith's heart continued to pound, Jiro was truly a knight in shining armor and with the way his heart fluttered, he knew what the growing feeling was. It didn't matter that they had only met a couple weeks ago; between the look of the character model and Jiro's kindness, it was hard for him not to develop a crush. And as hard as he blushed, he tried to sound calm and collected, resulting in three attempts of his response.

 

_(Yorak) I appreciate it, but you really don't have to._

 

_(Jiro) You keep saying that lol._

 

_(Jiro) I really want to help you._

 

There was a pause before Keith typed;

 

_(Yorak) I guess I just don't get why... You can do everything in game, but you choose to help a newbie like me. I don't get it._

 

Shiro stared at his screen with a frown, he remembered Yorak saying that no one even asked him how he was outside of his family and is now seeing that maybe no one had really shown him kindness or compassion before either.

 

_(Jiro) I like helping new players; as I mentioned before, the raid scene isn't my thing._

 

He paused for a moment, smiling;

 

_(Jiro) I like playing with a friend too._

 

Whatever unease that had settled in Keith's mind was wiped away at the affirmation of their friendship.

 

_(Yorak) No one's ever called me their friend before..._

 

A small pang tugged at Shiro's heart as he read those words, but he softly smiled again as he typed;

 

_(Jiro) You can always count on me. I'll be here for you._

 

_(Yorak) Thanks, you don't know how much that means to me._

 

Keith didn't know what else to say, but his heart felt like it was going to burst through his chest. He went back to his sketchbook, doodling a chibi of Jiro in the corner of one of the pages; sparkles encircling him then followed by a heart around him. In the back of his mind, he started to wonder if he should add more to Yorak's background and potential ongoing story aside from the one being told in game. Just because Keith himself couldn't or rather wouldn't act on his budding feelings, doesn't mean Yorak couldn't live out his fantasies for him.

 

Just as Shiro was about to ask if Yorak was ready, there was a knock on his door. He had ordered take out, but that was barely five minutes ago.

 

_(Jiro) Brb, someone's at the door._

 

_(Yorak) Np, take your time._

 

Shiro pivoted the chair then climbed out of it, proceeding to the kitchen and front door. He peered through the peephole, revealing a lovely young woman with crystal blue eyes and long white hair. Shiro smiled kindly as he opened the door for his friend; “Hey, Allura.” he stepped to the side so she could enter. “I haven't seen you in awhile, what brings you by?”

 

She returned the smile; “I'm sorry we've been so busy-” she was cut off by the shake of the man's head.

 

“No need to be sorry, what you guys are doing is amazing. Have you applied for the internship yet?”

 

“Not yet. We just need to finish up our thesis along with our prototype then send it off to the Marmora Foundation. Which brings me to why I'm here; does Adam have one of my neurology books?”

 

Shiro shrugged, nodding towards the bedroom; “Let's find out.”

 

As they entered, Allura took a peek inside Shiro's office at the sound of the game's music; “Gods, I miss playing.” She commented, now moving to the bed in the bedroom to give Black a couple pats. The kitten purred happily before hopping down and trotting out of the room.

 

Shiro had his back to her as he skimmed one of the bookshelves; “I miss seeing you guys on too. You going to be able to play the new patch next month?”

 

“There's a new patch already?!” she exclaimed, falling back onto the mattress. “I'm still two patches behind...” She sighed.

 

Shiro nodded, understandingly as he moved to the smaller bookcase.

 

“But I bet your fans are excited to run new content with you. The smile on her face was beaming; “You still enjoy streaming?”

 

“I do, it's a lot of fun and it's nice to interact with the player base like that.”

 

“So why haven't you?”

 

His searching stopped suddenly as he quickly turned to her; “How-?”

 

“Shiro, just because we can't really play at this moment, doesn't mean we don't lurk in your chat while we work.”

 

“Ah...” he stood from his crouched position and moved to sit on the end of the bed, his shoulders slumped.

 

The posture in her friend was enough for her to sit upright and place a hand on his shoulder; “Did something happen after you talked to the GMs?”

 

He shook his head; “No, everything went fine on that front. Everything in game is great, it's real life that's the problem.”

 

Allura promptly frowned; “What's wrong?”

 

He shook his head, keeping his gaze low.

 

She scooted closer, placing him in a half hug. She knew him well enough to know her next question was going to upset him, he always hated hearing it, but she needed to ask; “Are you feeling alright?”

 

“Yeah...” was the simple sighed answer, “But no matter how many times I say so, he doesn't believe me.”

 

“Shiro...”

 

“It's not just that either. He started to have me wear make-up to cover the scar...”

 

“He what?!” She was beyond outraged; “Why?!”

 

He shrugged; “Something about not having to explain how I got it, to make it easier on myself.”

 

“Shiro, please tell me this is your morbid sense of humor talking.”

 

He shook his head again.

 

“I'll kill him.”

 

“Allura-”

 

“Shiro, no one should ever tell you to cover that scar. If it was your choice, okay, but it's not.” she pulled him close, into a proper hug.

 

They embraced in silence for a few minutes. Shiro's grip tightened; “I miss this...” he said softly. Her hold tightened in turn as he continued; “Lately it's just been us going out and seeing his friends. He's not even asking me and just expects me to go at the last minute. I know you guys are busy, so hanging out with you all isn't really an option, but it feels like he doesn't respect my playing a game with online friends, let alone my streaming.”

 

“Shiro, have you thought about maybe taking a break?”

 

He pulled back, a bit puzzled at her suggestion; “From the game?”

 

“From Adam.” she corrects, gently.

 

“What? No, Allura, it's fine. I'm just a tad stressed and over thinking things.”

 

Allura wanted to protest, make her point known and heard, but she knew Shiro. She knew his relationship with Adam well too, since they were best friends since childhood and she had bore witness to his stuttering panic when Adam had asked him out back in high school. Adam wasn't like he is now and she knows Shiro needs to see it for himself. “Maybe.” She said instead, pulling him to his feet. A smile was quick to replace her frown, “Let's find that book quickly so you can go back to relaxing.”

 

“Thank you, Allura.” He gave her a small and hasty hug before returning to search for the book.

 

“What were you doing in game?” she asked a few moments later, changing the subject to something a little more joyful for him.

 

“Helping a new friend with a story dungeon.” He grimaced slightly, realizing that Yorak was still waiting for him; “He's been waiting in queue for an hour, so I was going to use my tank powers to make it pop.”

 

She giggled at that, being a DPS herself, she knew the woes of the wait and the magic of a tank or healer queuing with her; “I'm sorry to have held you up, but Matt really needs that book.”

 

“It's okay, I'll just explain when I get back.” He replied, reaching under the bed. “Aha!” He said triumphantly. In his hands he held a large text book, the cover all black except for the big center image of a brain that was cascaded in all colors of the rainbow.

 

Her smile brightened, but a sigh passed through her lips; “Thank you, Shiro.” She said, taking the book from him, “Remind me not to lend Adam things if he's just going to abandon them under the bed.”

 

“Noted.” he said, leading her back to the door. It was just in time too as the buzzer to his apartment went off, letting him know that his pizza had arrived. They gave each other another quick hug, but before Allura left, she looked at him over her shoulder; “Shiro, why don't I help you and your friend out?”

 

“You don't have to do that.”

 

“I know, but I should follow my own advice and take a break once and awhile. Besides, I'm sure Lotor would be willing to take one as well.”

 

He chuckled; “So you're just going to leave Matt to do all the work?”

 

She shrugged; “Honestly this part is mostly him anyway. We'll see you online in a few.” She flashed him another bright smile then walked across the hall to her own apartment that she shared with Matt and Lotor.

 

Moments later the pizza was in his hands and the door was shut once more. He set the box on the counter to grab a plate from the cupboard and a bottle of soda from the fridge. With dinner in hand he wondered back into his office only to stop just beyond the doorway. Before him, his gray eyes landed on Black; curled up in a tiny ball on his keyboard. He chuckled softly, putting his meal down quietly as to not to disturb his furry companion. Slowly he reached for his phone that rested next to his monitor and snapped a quick picture, then proceeded to post it to Twitter.

 

 **Shiro** @JiroShirogane01

_I guess she got tired of waiting for queue..._

 

He put the phone back down and picked up the tiny ball of fluff; “Sorry, Little Girl, but I need to use that.”

 

Black meowed in protest at being removed from her improvised bed, but settled happily in Shiro's lap once he was back in his chair. He turned his attention to the game's chat log, his eyes going wide when he could clearly see Yorak beginning to worry and panic.

 

_(Jiro) asfetthhhhhuccccccp[;”umjncv_

 

_(Yorak) o.O You okay?_

 

_(Yorak) Jiro?_

 

_(Yorak) Please, say something._

 

_(Yorak) Please, tell me you're okay._

 

How long had those messages been there? Shiro quickly typed back;

 

_(Jiro) Sorry, sorry. I'm back and I'm alright._

 

Keith heard the chime for his party chat and immediately lifted his gaze. He breathed a sigh of relief before responding.

 

_(Yorak) Oh thank god, I thought you passed out or something._

 

_(Jiro) Well not me, my cat decided my keyboard looked comfortable._

 

_(Yorak) ?_

 

_(Jiro) One sec._

 

Shiro copied and pasted the link to his tweet.

 

Keith brought up his browser and copied the link he was given into the address bar. His violet eyes turned incredibly soft at the image.

 

_(Yorak) Aww, that's adorable._

 

_(Jiro) Thanks, her name's Black._

 

_(Yorak) You named your black cat Black... what are you, six?_

 

_(Jiro) Four, technically lol._

 

_(Yorak) What?_

 

_(Jiro) I was born on Leap Day._

 

_(Yorak) Oh, lol._

 

Keith continued to look through Jiro's Twitter feed, seeing a bunch of screenshots and pictures of Black as well as his stream announcements.

 

_(Yorak) You're a streamer?_

 

_(Jiro) Yep, though I haven't been the last few weeks. Real life stuff, ya know?_

 

Keith noticed the date on the last stream tweet;

 

_(Yorak) You were streaming the day we met..._

 

Keith felt his face flush with embarrassment at the thought of how many people witnessed his outburst.

 

_(Jiro) I was, but no one saw anything. I cover my chat for those reasons and I cut the stream when I spoke to the GMs and you. Don't worry. :)_

 

_(Yorak) Thanks._

 

Keith clicked follow.

 

_(Yorak) I followed you, I hope that's okay._

 

_(Jiro) Of course it is. :)_

 

Out of curiosity, Shiro decided to check his recent follow. Yorak's Twitter was void of tweets and had only a few he was following. He clicked the follow button.

 

_(Jiro) Followed you back._

 

_(Yorak) Why? I don't use it._

 

_(Jiro) I saw, but I thought we could use it to talk off the game.... Only if you want to though._

 

Keith's heart began to pound against his ribs.

 

_(Yorak) I'd like that._

 

Keith continued with his drawing, now that he knew Jiro was okay, but the lingering quiet in their chatting was as if you could hear a pin drop.

 

_(Yorak) Were you okay to load up the dungeon?_

 

Shiro almost chocked on his drink as it went down the wrong pipe. He coughed a couple times, causing Black to lift her head in concern. He gave her a gentle brush of his finger on the top of her head before typing;

 

_(Jiro) Right! Lol I meant to tell you, I have two friends logging in to help out in case we got unlucky with tank queue._

 

_(Yorak) Okay, cool._

 

Keith could feel his nerves coming back, but in the back of his mind he knew this was better than just going into the Mission Recruiter and going with randos; he trusted Jiro and if these people were his friends, than he had no reason to doubt that he would be treated kindly.

 

_(Jiro) Sorry, I'm also eating._

 

_(Yorak) No worries. I think I'm going to grab a snack while we wait and let my dog out._

 

_(Jiro) You have a dog? Can I see?_

 

_(Yorak) Sure, gimme a couple mins though._

 

_(Jiro) :)_

 

Keith wondered down to the kitchen, fixing himself a plate mix of fruit; apple slices, grapes and an orange, while Kosmo did his business out back. True to his word he went through his phone to find a decent shot of his animal companion. He smiled at the one he chose; it was a profile shot of Kosmo looking up at the moon and illuminated by firelight. Within seconds of finding the image, he tweeted it to Jiro.

 

 **K** @RedLion04

_His name is Kosmo._

 

Shiro stared at the image in both shock and awe.

 

_(Yorak) Back._

 

_(Jiro) Wb, this is a wolf._

 

_(Yorak) Yeah..._

 

_(Jiro) You have a wolf._

 

_(Yorak) Yes?_

 

Keith wasn't sure what to say. If he was ever asked if he had a pet and he told the truth, everyone would just call him a liar so he had fallen into the habit of just saying dog when asked.

 

_(Jiro) That's so cool!_

 

Keith blinked at his screen, not expecting to see the excitement.

 

_(Yorak) :)_

 

_(Jiro) How did you get a wolf?_

 

As Shiro hit enter a chime of a whisper coming through sounded through his speakers.

 

_Jiro << Can send Lotor and I an invite. ^_^_

 

Before Keith could reply, he saw the two party spots fill in; an Archer by the name of Valayun and an Alchemist, Kildov. Keith decided to send a whisper to Jiro instead;

 

_Jiro << I'll tell you later._

 

_(Jiro) These are my irl friends._

 

_(Valayun) Hi, it's nice to meet you. Sorry about distracting him earlier, was my fault._

 

_(Yorak) Nice to meet you too. And don't worry about the wait, I was just glad to see he's okay._

 

_(Valayun) ?_

 

_(Yorak) I thought he fainted onto his keyboard, but it was just his cat._

 

_(Valayun) lol_

 

_(Kildov) So what dungeon are we running?_

 

Shiro grinned, a little devilishly, at the screen as he loaded up the dungeon and he could swear he heard his friends groan from across the hall.

 

Keith watched the cutscene pan across the caverns that were illuminated by the greenish-yellow ponds and puddles.

 

_(Valayun) It would be this one lol._

 

_(Yorak) What's so bad about this place?_

 

_(Kildov) A lot of DoTs, healer's worst nightmare really._

 

Keith watched the Alchemist begin to cast, summoning the class' healing companion; a miniature white lion. A tiny roar echoed through the speakers as the pet came onto the screen. Keith looked Kildov over as well; he was Altean, given the height and build and the length and sleekness to his ears. And like a lot of Altean players, he had donned the white hair, but his skin was a delicate lavender and his eyes held the yellow sclera beneath blue eyes.

 

_(Yorak) Are you half Galra/half Altean?_

 

_(Jiro) Wow, you're the first person to actually pick up on that._

 

_(Kildov) Color me impressed. I've had this character since I was a kid and no one's ever put two and two together. Always thinking I was color blind or something and messed up._

 

_(Yorak) I understand that completely. Well in the sense that no one understands._

 

_(Yorak) Your name is also Galra, right? it means Stained Innocence or something like that._

 

_(Kildov) That's right. Do you play M &M irl?_

 

_(Yorak) No, but my dad does. He's been in the same campaign since college._

 

_(Valayun) Wow, almost sounds like us lol. I would love to hear about his game some day._

 

_(Yorak) Sure._

 

_(Jiro) Okay, it's been awhile for you two, do want small pulls?_

 

_(Kildov) Please, it may have been a few months, but I think we remember how to play._

 

_Kildov casted his protective spell while Jiro had turned on his tank stance. The paladin dashed forward popping cool downs , but his health was draining fast off the first two sets of mobs and before anyone knew it Jiro was down and the mass was heading back to their normal spots, with the mobs around where the rest of the party stood and aggroed, wiping them. They home pointed back to the start where Jiro stood waiting for them._

 

_(Yorak) What just happened?_

 

_(Kildov) A miscalculation..._

 

_(Valayun) He forgot he doesn't have his shield at this level._

 

_(Kildov) That and that the small slugs hit like a bus._

 

_(Jiro) So... small pulls then._

 

The followings smaller pulls and subsequent bosses went flawlessly. Keith watched the boss introduction cutscene; the whole screen shook as the large center platform flipped over, causing a massive wave of the toxic water to rise up as a gigantic worm ascended from the depths. Thick saliva dripped from its fangs as it let out a booming roar.

 

_(Yorak) Since when do worms roar?_

 

_(Jiro) lol_

 

_(Valayun) Surprised you didn't say how gross it looks, that's usually the reaction most new players have._

 

_(Kildov) Or current players because you say it every time._

 

_(Valayun) But it is!_

 

_(Yorak) lol_

 

_(Jiro) lol_

 

_(Jiro) Okay, so the fight is pretty standard, except that it will start to flail around making the platform unusable, so when that happens we need to jump to the smaller ones. It will draw us back in when its tantrum is over._

 

_(Yorak) Can we still attack it?_

 

_(Valayun) Yep! This fight was made for ranged DPS and casters._

 

_(Yorak) Cool, ninjitsu it is._

 

_And just like many fights before, Jiro issued the ready check. Once everyone was set the party slid down the deep slimy slope onto the center platform. Jiro took the charge, pulling the boss with the lobbing of his shield._

 

Everything was going fine, all hate rotations mixed with DPS ones were being done, heals were tossed when needed and overall damage was being dealt, but when the actual mechanic came up, Jiro didn't move onto the side platforms. Even with some heals, it wasn't enough to keep the tank up with all the damage the ground pounding was putting out.

 

_(Yorak) Jiro?_

 

Shiro accepted the raise a few minutes later, but said nothing. The boss' tantrum ends as does the fight with Yorak unleashing his Last Resort.

 

_(Jiro) Sorry, I gotta go._

 

Before any of them knew it, Jiro had gone offline.

 

_(Valayun) I'll go check on him. It was nice to meet you, Yorak._

 

She tossed him a friend request.

 

_(Yorak) Thanks, you too._

 

He clicked 'yes' to the request.

 

_(Kildov) I can stay on a bit and help you through the next section, if you would like._

 

Lotor too, sent a friend request and Keith was more than happy to accept.

 

_(Yorak) Thanks._

 

He exited the dungeon, watching Yorak run to the fallen princess of Altea. One of the cloaked figures watched from the shadows before vanishing out of sight. The screen shook with nothing but black on it, then, suddenly, a flash of two yellow eyes appeared, then went away as quickly as it came.

 

Allura stood on the other side of Shiro's door, getting ready to knock when she could hear his voice through the wood; “I'm sorry, Kuron.” he said, talking to his sister.

 

Kuron sighed heavily on the other end of the phone; _“And how do you want me to explain this to Ryou? Or the kids? Takashi, we haven't seen you since you moved.”_

 

“I know...” he heaved a sigh of his own; “Believe me, I want to come home for Thanksgiving, but-”

 

“ _But you don't want to upset him. I get it, but your family wants to be with you too and every time we try, Adam seems to make plans. And I needn't rant again about how it should have been you telling us instead of a voicemail left by your boyfriend.”_

 

“I know and I was going to call, I just didn't know how to tell you. I'll try Skyping in while we're there if the connection is good. I really don't see myself on the slopes much.”

 

“ _At all.”_ She corrects dryly, _“Don't try to pretend you like the cold, Takashi.”_

 

“I'm just trying to stay afloat, Kuron...”

 

“ _I know you are...”_ her voice shifted into something much softer as if there were words she wanted to say my refrained.

 

Allura could feel anger building up inside her just from the one-sided conversation. Though she didn't mean to eavesdrop on her best friend, she didn't need to hear any more. She turned on her heels to quickly step inside her apartment for her purse and keys.

 

Matt lifted his gaze from the book's pages from where he sat at the kitchen table; “Shiro okay?”

 

She shook her head.

 

Concern now played on Matt's face as he watched her sling her purse over her shoulder; “Where are you going?”

 

“To have a little 'chat' with Adam.”

 

Matt placed a notebook in between the pages he was reading and closed the text book; “I think I'll join you then.” Even without hearing the partial phone conversation, Matt knew the relationship just as well as Allura did and as time went on, Matt wasn't blind to the fact that the relationship had turned sour. “Starting to think Lotor was right all along.”

 

“Of course I was right.” Came the smooth voice from down the hall. Footsteps followed as he entered the kitchen, “But I didn't want to be.”

 

“Is Yorak okay?” Allura asked.

 

Lotor shrugged; “Best I could tell. He said he was going to make dinner, but I know he's worried about him.”

 

“Care to join us?” Matt questioned while retrieving his shoes.

 

Lotor shook his head, platinum locks swaying from side to side, “I said I would be online for a bit so I'll see if Yorak wants to continue when he's done eating and someone should be here for Shiro.”

 

Allura nodded in agreement, “Just don't say 'I told you so' or anything like that.”

 

“Not this time, Princess, you have my word.”

 

“Good.” She moved to the door with Matt close behind her. She looked just passed him to Lotor over her shoulder; “There is only one person who can get away with calling me that and it isn't you.” She glared, albeit playful. She just watched Lotor shrug his shoulders with a smirk, knowing her words to be true before stepping out.

 

Keith stood at the counter next to the stove, dicing his now pealed potatoes. He was so lost in thought, attempting to focus that he failed to notice his mother standing next to him.

 

“Keith?” She asked, her 'mother's concern' seeping into her tone.

 

“Sorry.” Is all he says as he continues to dice.

 

Krolia puts her hand on his wrist to halt his movements; “What are you sorry about?”

 

“Not having dinner done. I got caught up in queue and-”

 

“Keith, it's okay. You've done everything your father and I have asked of you and your grades have improved; we couldn't be prouder of you. One night of being late to make dinner isn't going to change that and I know you know that.” She tightened her grip, her eyes going incredibly soft; “So what's troubling you?”

 

He sighed, setting the knife down onto the cutting board; “I'm just worried about Jiro...”

 

“Is that your friend from the game?”

 

Keith gave a nod; “He and two of his friends were helping me out and then he just logged off after the boss. He's never done that before.”

 

“I'm sure something just came up.”

 

He shook his head; “I know it sounds stupid, but I feel it. Something isn't right.”

 

“So what are you going to do about it?”

 

His eyes grew wide as he turned to face his mom; “What?”

 

“It's not stupid that you care, Keith. If you feel that your friend is in trouble of any kind, what are you going to do?”

 

“I...” he paused, taking in a deep breath; “I want to make sure he's okay.”

 

“Then go do that.”

 

“But I gotta finish making-”

 

Krolia shook her head, nudging him out of the way with her hip; “I got this, you go to your friend.”

 

He gave her a gentle smile; “Thanks, Mom.” He moved behind her as to not get in her way and proceeded to go back to his room. Once returning to his chair he loaded up Twitter and to his surprise he had a message waiting for him and sure enough it was from Jiro.

 

**Shiro**

_I'm really sorry for bailing after the boss, not to mention almost messing it up completely on you. I just... feel like I'm drowning, ya know? Idk why said that, I'm sorry._

 

Keith frowned, clearly feeling saddened by his friend's confession. It was obvious to him that he wasn't okay, but it also felt like Jiro wasn't quite ready to talk about it either. Instead, he decides to respond with something more lighthearted.

 

**K**

_So, did you still wanna hear how I got my wolf? :)_

 

Shiro grabbed his phone from the nightstand; after the phone call from his sister he felt too emotionally exhausted to do much else aside from lye down. His heart ached with so much guilt from all sides, but he soon felt a little of that weight leave him as he saw the message from Yorak and he let a smile tug at his lips.

 

**Shiro**

_Please._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/LusciaKoushiro) to see how fics are progressing! ^_^


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With Keith now diving into the game I thought I would make a quick key to signifiy which chat is being used to avoid some confusion just in case.  
> Party chat-  
> (Yorak)  
> Whisper-  
> Player recieving: Yorak>>  
> Player replying: Yorak<<  
> I will do my best to have those convos on one screen to avoid confusion best I can.  
> Guild Chat-  
> < Yorak >

Allura made long strides out of the apartment complex and down the sidewalk. The speed in which she walked was that of a woman on a mission and she did it in four-inch heels with Matt jogging beside her in an effort to keep up.

 

“Where are we going?” Matt finally asked.

 

“Sincline.” She replied, but said nothing more.

 

Sincline was a popular cafe not far from the campus and thankfully for Allura, Adam was a creature of habit and went there everyday after classes for one of their more famous drinks; the Kelta Latte. This had also become a regular hang out for Adam and his friends from his psych class; the one Allura and Lotor were apart of.

 

As they rounded the corner her brows furrowed; sitting at an outdoor table with another classmate was Adam. Her glare intensified as she watched him lean back in his chair, sipping his drink with a stupid smile on his face as if he did nothing wrong. It made her blood boil. She picked up her pace, leaving Matt behind. She got up right against the table and slammed her hands on its surface.

 

The two men jumped in surprise.

 

“A-Allura....” the other classmate stuttered.

 

“Curtis.” She acknowledged, but her eyes remained on her target, “Mind giving Adam and I a second?”

 

He nodded, nervously, slowly getting out of his seat and making the weak excuse of getting another beverage inside.

 

“Wait.” Adam said, halting his friend's movement. Adam reached into his pocket, retrieving his wallet and pulled out his credit card; “Get whatever you want and order us some dinner, okay?”

 

Curtis nodded, taking the card, then quickly moved into the building.

 

“So what do you want to talk about?” Adam asked, his smile calm and relaxed.

 

“That.” She pointed in the vague direction their classmate had gone; “For starters.”

 

“What? I can't treat a friend to dinner?”

 

“Oh, you can; if it was your money you were using.” She stood up straight and folded her arms across her chest.

 

“I'm not quite sure what you are insinuating; Takashi and I share the finances.”

 

“That's a funny way of saying 'spending my boyfriend's money'.” she replied bluntly.

 

Adam shook his head, shrugging his shoulders; “I don't know what you want me to say. Do I go out and have dinner with my friends? Yes. Do I spend money? Yes. Is Takashi aware of it? Yes. I'm not understanding the problem here.”

 

“The problem is you're taking advantage of him.” Matt interjected, finally catching up to his roommate.

 

Adam sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration; “I have no idea how you are coming to these ridiculous conclusions. I wouldn't do anything like that to him.”

 

“Bullshit.” Allura spat, her normal calm and regal demeanor slipping away, giving into the rage that lit a fire in her crystal-like eyes. “You aren't even asking what he wants anymore; you just expect him to jump at your beck and call; dragging him out with _YOUR_ friends when he's perfectly content playing games and streaming.”

 

“He needs to socialize, Allura.” Adam retorted, fighting the urge to roll his eyes.

 

“And what do you think are on the other side of the screen? Just because he doesn't interact with people directly outside his home, doesn't mean he isn't socializing.” Matt scoffed.

 

“Ha! Don't make laugh. Socializing implies that you get to know the people you're interacting with. He knows nothing of the people he plays with or puts on a show for. If anything they're the ones taking advantage of him and his kindness.”

 

“That's a really weak argument. Considering you want to be a therapist. I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to judge people you haven't met.” Matt stated, now crossing his arms.

 

This time Adam did roll his eyes; “I'm doing what any good therapist would do and call it as I see it.”

 

“What a load of crap.” Allura said, exasperatedly; “Even if you were right, what made you think you could take him away from his family? Or flat out tell his sister that he wasn't coming home. You have no right to do that to him.”

 

“Excuse you, but I have every right to do what's best for _MY_ boyfriend. His schoolwork is stressful and I thought a nice get away in the mountains sounded calm and relaxing. He needs to rest and he certainly wouldn't get that with his niece and nephew bouncing off the walls. And I called Kuron because I know Takashi wouldn't want to disappointment his family, so I broke the news for him.”

 

Allura shook her head, white locks swaying from side to side, “You are a real piece of work...” She muttered; “Claiming everything is for Shiro, but all you're doing is denying him. He can't even be himself around you.”

 

Adam arched a curious eyebrow, “How on Earth did you come to that conclusion? In case you haven't noticed, he still plays that silly game. I may not like that he does or like the fact that he streams, but I don't stop him from doing it.”

 

“You may not stop him, but you do fight with him on it, but I wasn't referring to that.”

 

His brows furrowed; “Then enlighten me.”

 

She leaned against the tabletop, inching closer so she was practically in his face. “You having him put on make up to cover his facial scar is the lowest of scumbaggery there is.”

 

“You what?!” Matt exclaimed.

 

“Bold of you to assume that wasn't for his own good.” Adam replied, ignoring the outburst. Intense brown eyes locked with fierce blue ones; “Have you seen how people stare at him? How he shies away when he can feel their gaze on him? Do you know how squirmish he gets when someone asks him how he got it? Of course you haven't because you haven't been around for him. I'm trying to protect him, especially since we're coming up on the anniversary of the accident and I don't need some prissy little bitch telling me I am misunderstanding the man I love when they can't even be bothered to spend time with their friend. So instead of insinuating that I am selfish or whatever, maybe you should look in the damn mirror and see who the person hurting Takashi really is.”

 

Allura was seeing red and before anyone knew it she raised one hand off of the table and slapped the man across from her. The echo of the contact rang through the street, causing patrons and passerbys alike to take notice. Allura could care less about the stares as she moved to get more into Adam's space, but Matt stopped her in her tracks. “You are one of the worst people I have _EVER_ met and mark my words; he _WILL_ see through you one day.” with that she shrugged out of her friend's grasp and stormed off with Matt not far behind.

 

Curtis slowly made his way back over to the table, setting the tray with their food and drinks down. They ate in silence, but he glanced over to Adam from time to time and saw something in his eyes that hadn't been there during the whole exchange; guilt.

 

***

 

A couple weeks had past since the incident at Sincline, which Adam was only slightly honest about when Shiro had questioned the reddening mark on the side of his face. However, what started as a conversation of concern turned into one of compromise as they agreed to return home to Arizona for Christmas.

 

Keith was happy to see his friend return to a more relaxed frame of mind, though they never talked about what was bothering Jiro directly, he could just tell he seemed less tense.

 

It was three days before Thanksgiving when Keith was sitting alone at lunch when he received a new message;

 

**Shiro**   
_Hey, I wanted to run something by you. You can say no if you want._

 

**K**   
_Why would I say no?_

 

**Shiro**  
 _Just not sure how you'd feel about it. So, as you know I'm leaving for_ _Thanksgiving in two days and I was thinking of streaming tonight to make some announcements and stuff. I know I said I was gonna help with the Earth Fiend fight and I will, but I was thinking we could open the other spots to chat and such. But I understand if you don't want to be on display._

 

**K**   
_I don't have a problem with that. What time?_

 

**Shiro**   
_Is seven your time too early?_

 

**K**   
_Nah, should be fine. I'll message you if I'm late._

 

**Shiro**   
_Sounds great, see you then. :)_

 

**K**   
_Can't wait._

 

Keith stared down at his screen, a tiny blush crept its way into his cheeks as he smiled. The truth was he really was excited because this will be the first time his friend has streamed since they met and that meant that not only was he feeling better to do so, it meant he could put a voice to the character on screen, a voice to the kind words and encouragement. No, he really couldn't wait to get home.

 

A few agonizingly, slow hours later, Keith finally got his wish when the final bell of the day rang through the building. He flung his backpack over his shoulder and made a b-line to the exit, dodging and weaving through other students with quick grace to make it to his car. With less grace than what he had to get there, he threw his school things onto the backseat before jumping into the driver's seat and speeding off as legally as he was allowed.

 

His smile was radiant as he drove; _'Just a few more hours...'_ he thought.

 

Somehow his daydreaming made the drive home that much quicker as he soon found himself pulling into his driveway. An eyebrow quirked as he set his violet eyes onto his mother's car along with another sleek, black vehicle that he recognized. Keith grabbed his things from his own car then stepped into the house. “Mom?” he called out.

 

“In the kitchen.” She hollered back.

 

Keith made his way there and stopped in the doorway. Before him, his mother say in her usual spot and across from her was a large, muscular man with his hair in a braid that he had loosely coiled around his neck. Keith will never understand why he wears it like that. “Uncle Kolivan?”

 

Kolivan turned his attention to his nephew, giving a tiny, gentle smile in acknowledgment before turning back to the papers he'd been reading.

 

Krolia removed her reading glasses and glanced up to her son, her own tired, but loving smile greeting him; “How was your day?”

 

“Slow. It's good to be home.” he admitted. He set his bag down against the wall and entered the room fully in hopes to find his after school snack; “What are you doing home?” he asked with genuine curiosity.

 

Kolivan let out a huff; “One of your other uncles decided it would be a good idea to have fish for lunch.”

 

“Okay?” he waited a minute for his uncle to clarify.

 

“The smell was insufferable.”

 

“It's fish, of course it's going to stink.” He retorted while getting a drink from the fridge.

 

“Well that stink is ten times worse when you overcook it.” Kolivan replied with a sigh; “Damn thing exploded in the microwave.”

 

“You could smell it on the entirety of the floor, which then carried to others due to it lingering in the elevator.” his mother added.

 

Granted, Keith wasn't too crazy about the smell of fish as it was, but what they had just described sounded terrible and he now understood why they were working in his homework spot. “Gross.”

 

“I'm banning Ulaz from the microwave.” Kolivan snorted.

 

“Don't think you can ban someone who had a legitimate reason to step away. Anyone who is seeking treatment from us takes priority over some fish.” Krolia defended.

 

“Also, I don't think you can ban someone just because they wanted some fish for lunch.” Keith pointed out.

 

Kolivan sighed, leaning back in his chair; “Fine, no ban. But he'll need supervision to use the microwave.”

 

“Fair.” Krolia said with a chuckle.

 

“So what is all this?” Keith inquired after taking a sip of his drink.

 

“Applications and thesis work for the internship.” his mother replied.

 

“Find anyone good yet?”

 

“There are a few promising projects, but nothing definitive yet. Hopefully we'll come to a decision by the beginning of the year.”

 

Keith gave a nod, grabbing his fruit plate that he had made while they conversed from the counter; “Well I won't distract you any more then.” he moved back towards the living room, pausing in the doorway; “Oh, what are we doing about dinner?” he asked, looking at Krolia over his shoulder.

 

“Your father is bringing home some pizza.”

 

“Cool, um... is he gonna be home at his normal time?”

 

“Give or take ten to fifteen minutes for him to get the food, why?”

 

“Oh... uh... well, Jiro was hoping to meet me in-game by seven so we could do the fight I stopped on since he's gonna be away for the holiday.”

 

Krolia smiled; “Tell you what, have dinner in your room tonight and have fun with your friend. Just get your homework done first, alright?”

 

He nodded, “Thanks, Mom.” with that he picked up his discarded book bag and headed up the stairs.

 

Kolivan turned his attention to Krolia; “So how has Trevor's experiment been going?”

 

“I'm surprised to say he might have been right on this one. He's met some nice people and he seems to actually be having fun. I even saw him with his sketchbook out last weekend and I can't even remember the last time he drew anything.”

 

Kolivan could only give a content hum upon hearing the good update on his nephew. He and his brothers had begun to worry about him more and more from what they were hearing from Krolia, but to hear he actually made a friend had put those worries at ease. He picked up another application; “Now then, shall we continue?”

 

***

 

Keith's homework had really taken no time at all as his teachers decided to lighten the load for their small break. Once he was finished he loaded up Twitch to create an account and found his way to Twitter to send Jiro a message.

 

**K**   
_Homework is all done and no cooking/meal with my family tonight. We can hop on early if you're ready._

 

**Shiro**   
_Oh? Everything okay?_

 

**K**   
_Everything is fine. My mom and uncle are working out of the kitchen so my dad is bringing dinner home. Looks like it might be a lateish kind of night for them, so she gave me permission to skip the usual family dinner._

 

**Shiro**   
_Why are they working in the kitchen? o.O_

 

**K**   
_Something about exploding fish._

 

**Shiro**   
_I... I don't know if I wanna know..._

 

**K**   
_lol_

 

**Shiro**   
_But yeah, we can get things started. Maybe do some other things like leveling roulette with everyone and keep the Earth Fiend fight set for seven? Gives you time to eat and for some regulars in my chat to come in so they have a chance to participate._

 

**K**   
_Sounds good to me. Logging in now._

 

Shiro jotted down a few things on a list before going through the motions of setting up his stream. First and foremost he went through his screenshots to cover his chat and for the first time it wasn't a solo shot of his character. Instead, it was one of Jiro and Yorak standing back to back with their weapons drawn. He had zoomed the camera in to get the shot from the bust up, showing off the stars and lights of the rare weather's aurora. He smiled fondly as he put it in place. In his entire time playing Monsters and Mana ONLINE he had only seen the weather twice and the high tier hunt that spawned with it once. He took to Twitter quickly after.

 

**Shiro** @JiroShirogane01  
 _Going live in a couple mins. Did you miss me?_

 

He posted the link for his stream then went about getting a large glass of ice water and rereading his notes to make sure he had everything down he wanted to cover in terms of his announcements. He took his seat, setting his headphones on his head and loading up his playlist. If possible, his smile was even more soft and fond as he saw so many familiar names in chat and despite the random hiatus, his numbers hadn't dipped much.

 

Keith sat in his chat, waiting for the stream to officially start, his mouse hovering over the follow button, but he wasn't fully prepared for the sound that reached his ears. The music was soft and soothing, but the deep and smooth voice that came over it was very much like a sunrise; awakening and beautiful. “Wow...” Keith whispered and all he heard his friend say was 'hello'.

 

Shiro chuckled as he read the rapid fire greetings; “It's so good to see you all, I hope everyone has been well.”

 

**SharpShooter003:** _Where have you been, man? We've seen you on just not streaming._

 

Shiro reads the chat out loud, taking a moment in an effort not to sigh at the semi call out; “Well as I said before, real life has kind of gotten in the way with school and other personal matters, which is something I want to discuss with everyone, especially to my subscribers. But I want to wait a little bit for some of our regulars to show up.” He loaded the game, logging into its title screen before looking back to Chat as if addressing them as he spoke; “So as SharpShooter has pointed out, I have been online and if you have seen me on than you have more than likely have seen me with my new friend, Yorak, who is featured in my screenshot today.”

 

Keith felt heat rise to his cheeks at the sound of his character's name in the sweet baritone vocals. His heart fluttered at the sight of the screenshot. He had taken a few from that night as well and one of them was actually set to his desktop background. He had a dreamy, dazed smile on his face as he listened to Jiro continue.

 

“Aside from some announcements, he is the reason for today's stream. He's hit the infamous story mode fight with the Earth Fiend and I thought it might be fun to go through it together with him. But before that, to settle in, I thought we could do some roulettes. How does that sound?”

 

It was then that Keith decided to click on the follow button, remembering that he was going to.

 

A chime went off, notifying Shiro of a new follower. “Speak of the devil.” he said with a smile, recognizing the RedLion04 handle, “Welcome to the stream, Yorak.”

 

**RedLion04:** _Hi.... what do you mean 'infamous'?_

 

Shiro laughed aloud and the chat erupted with 'lols' and laughing emotes as well, soon followed by the words; 'The Landslides'.

 

“This fight is notorious for it's difficulty for a story mode fight, so you can imagine how much more difficult the hard mode is.”

 

**StarBrite:** _Or Nightmare._

 

“That too.” Shiro said, after reading chat.

 

He was all logged in now, quickly dealing with his vassals and fluxing his auction house item prices. He set up the Group Finder, going down through a drop down menu to select a roulette then set a password; “Let's start with the ever popular leveling roulette. Need a healer and two DPS, so if you're on the Voltron server and would like to join the password is 0229.”

 

Keith could only blink at how fast the party had filled up. He had only managed to barely open the GF menu before both DPS slots were taken. He watched the ready check go through and a dungeon come into view. He minimized the browser window, but continued to listen as he changed to his level one cleric. He still didn't want to be responsible for keeping the party alive, but there was one thing he had noticed in a lot of parties with Jiro and that was that somehow, some way; Jiro would end up K.O.ed at least once.

 

No sooner had he stepped outside to start soloing did he hear Jiro say; “Was the pull too big?”

 

Keith made sure no mobs were near by when he brought the browser back up and sure enough the party had wiped and were running back.

 

It was a couple minutes before Jiro spoke again; “It's okay, wipes happen.” Another pause and Keith could sense a frown on the streamer's face. The characters on screen stood still where the mobs roamed, but out of harms way. There was soft clacking in the background before Jiro spoke; “I don't get why some players feel the need to be so cruel, but I feel I need to say this, so please listen.”

 

Keith watched as the chat stilled, awaiting for what was coming.

 

“This goes for every class in the game, but especially tanks and healers; it takes time to learn all of the nuances of the role, but some mobs do more damage than the average one of the dungeon and in that kind of situation it becomes a burden on your healer. If you wipe and tell your healer to 'get good' or something rude like that, please consider they might not be used to large pulls or the simple fact that they might be new to the instance. Mistakes can happen; plain and simple, so please be kind and don't make anyone feel bad.”

 

Keith could hear the keyboard clacks as his thoughts drifted back to the night he met Jiro. He steeled himself, bringing the game back up, looking at the low level healer that stared back at him; yeah, it was going to be a challenge. He smiled, turning back to the browser, typing in chat;

 

**RedLion04:** _Patience yields focus._

 

Shiro had finished typing, bringing up the ready check before glancing to his chat. His smile was soft as he read it to himself; “That really stuck with you, didn't it?”

 

**RedLion04:** _It's good advice._

 

And it was, it's what made school a little more bearable for him. He watched the party again attempt the double pull.

 

“It is, one that has helped me through most of my life. You'd be surprised what sort of things can happen if you just have a little patience.” Jiro said, a hint of tenderness in his voice.

 

With a slight tactical change, the pull was a success. Keith brought his game up again and began to fight the fluffy sheep outside of Altea's walls.

 

***

 

Hours had just seemed to fly by. Keith was content listening to Jiro talk as he soloed on his cleric since he would get to party with him later and felt it was only right to give others in chat a chance to play alongside him. Before he knew it, it had become six o'clock and his mother had quietly sneaked into his room with a plate full of pizza and a couple cans of soda. He pulled one of his earbuds out, watching her retreat back to the door and towards the hall; “Thanks.” he said with a smile.

 

She stopped just out of the doorway, twisting her body enough to comfortably look at him; “You're welcome, Little Star, though I am surprised you have your headphones in.”

 

“Oh, yeah... Jiro's streaming so I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to disturb you guys downstairs.”

 

“Oh? How's that going?”

 

“Fine, he's been doing content with his chat. Been fun to watch and the chat seems nice.”

 

“Glad to hear it.” She paused, watching him as he picked a piece of pepperoni off a slice and ate it.

 

“What?”

 

“Nothing, just thinking about the big pout your dad had on his face when I told him I would bring you your dinner.” She said after a few extra beats of silence. “He really wants to share this with you.”

 

“I know, just a little longer, okay?”

 

The smile she gave him was that of fondness and understanding, “Of course, Sweetheart. I'm not trying to pressure you into anything, but I'm afraid you father will start acting like a child looking for Christmas presents if he doesn't see you play soon.”

 

Keith laughed at the notion; “He would.” he opened a can of soda, taking a sip before speaking again; “In ten levels I'll show him or there about.”

 

She quirked an eyebrow, “What's in ten levels?”

 

Keith brought up the browser again, opening up two new tabs. He typed 'Monsters and Mana tabletop Ninja' into Google in one tab and 'Monsters and Mana Ninja Class Artifact Gear' in the other, bringing up the respective images.

 

Krolia returned to his side to get a better look and when she saw the images she understood, realizing what she was looking at.

 

Keith stared at his food, cheeks flushed; “I've always loved the look of the Order of the Blades' gear. Seeing that it was their artifact gear, I just knew that's how I wanted him to see Yorak for the first time.”

 

Krolia placed an arm around his shoulders, being mindful of the headphone wire as she pulled him close, carding her long fingers through his inky black locks, “I remember him spending so many nights making that armor for Halloween for you; from the cardboard box armor pieces to the sewing of the bodysuit and hood.” she chuckled; “Did you know that was the first thing he had ever sewn?”

 

“No, really?” Came the sarcastic response. Keith may have been young, at around six years old, when that costume was first attempted, but he was old enough to know that sleeves should be the same length as well as the leggings as his own arms and legs, but that didn't make him love his father any less for trying.

 

Krolia gave him a loving kiss atop of his head before pulling back; “I'll let you get back to your game, have fun.” she left then, returning to the kitchen where her husband and brother awaited.

 

Trevor still had a tiny remnant of a pout upon his lips, but noted the soft look on his wife's face, “You were up there for a bit, is he okay?”

 

“He's fine.” she replied as she retook her seat.

 

“Maybe I should check on him-” he started to get out of his chair.

 

“You will do no such thing.” Krolia scolded, grabbing a hold of his wrist, thwarting his attempt to leave, “You will wait until he's ready.”

 

The pout was one hundred percent back on his face; “I don't get why you get to see it when I'm the one paying his sub.” he folded his arms across his chest like a displeased child.

 

Kolivan could only laugh at the display, even if he couldn't really fault his brother-in-law's logic.

 

Keith happily ate his dinner as he watched Jiro and some of his chat farm a Nightmare version of the Fire Fiend; he was completely entranced by the sheer challenge of the mechanics, but most of all, he was captivated by Jiro's calm voice calling out said mechanics. It wasn't long before the party exited the battlefield, disbanding the party and Jiro was addressing him; “You good to go, Yorak?”

 

Keith took a moment to wipe the grease from his hands before typing in Twitch chat.

 

**RedLion04:** _Yep, just finished eating._

 

“Cool, anything good? Wasn't exploding fish, was it?” Came the reply along with the party invite.

 

Keith snorted and then outright laughed at not only Jiro's response, but the confusion of the chat. He accepted the invite before replying;

 

**RedLion04:** _lol No, no exploding fish. Just pizza._

 

“Good.” Shiro paused, ruffling some papers as he gathered his notes. Once those were in order he set up the Group Finder. “Okay guys, it's time for our main event. We need one healer and one DPS since this is the story mode. No less deadly though. Password's still 0229.”

 

The DPS slot filled immediately with a level fifty Ninja by the name of Pike.

 

“While we wait for a healer, I wanted to share some thoughts on the stream and my schedule going forward. Honestly, I am hoping to put most of this in motion at the start of the new year since classes for me won't start until February.” he took a sip of water; “So the first thing I want to tackle is my schedule. With my living on the East Coast, I am two to three hours ahead of some of you and though I don't want to push going live too late for myself, I do want those in other time zones to have a chance to catch me live and participate in in-game content or giveaways should I do them. The latest I could probably start is eleven, so with that in mind, I am going to put a poll up on Twitter and I'll make a decision based on the results.”

 

Keith took out his phone and as soon as Jiro posted the poll he selected the 10pm option.

 

“Okay, poll is up.” Shiro announced; “Feel free to leave comments if you have other suggestions.” He flipped to the next piece of paper; “Now, I am hoping to do a 'sub night', where we either do some mount farming or play some other games, like pictionary. Something that we can all play together as a thank you for your support. This would be once a month and on the last Sunday of the month. I'll be streaming it for everyone, but subscribers take priority in participating. Does that make sense?” he watched chat for a moment then read aloud; “Why not Saturdays? I'm actually reserving Saturdays for a personal day.”

 

Date night he decides not to say. It too had been part of the compromise; Adam would try to stop complaining about his playtime and or streaming if Shiro agreed to a date night once a week, it was fair, or so he thought.

 

He typed out his next tweet; “No poll this time, but comment on something you would like to do and I'll look into it. Goes without saying, but keep it Twitch friendly.” he said with a laugh. He waited a couple minutes, seeing no one had entered the party aside from Pike. “Still need a healer if anyone wants to join. Only need to be level forty. It's okay if you're new to the fight too.” He flipped through a couple more pages of notes; “So another thing I was thinking of doing and have been wanting to do is a charity stream. I'm not sure what charity at this time, but what would happen is that all donations would go to the charity. I will set stretch goals; like if we hit five hundred dollars, I'll change to Galra for a month or if we hit two-thousand dollars, I'll start putting out helper guides for fights in the game or breakdown the ins and outs of being a tank. Things like that.” he watched his chat explode with cheers for Galra!Jiro.

 

Shiro chuckled; “You guys really like the idea of me going Galra, huh?”

 

Keith took out his sketchbook as he continued to wait and listen to his friend, a soft smile on his face as he sketched out a chibi version of Jiro's face, but replaced his human features with Galra ones. He took a picture with his phone then DMed it to his friend.

 

**K**   
_I think he could look cute._

 

Just as he sent the doodle, he heard Jiro read another piece of chat out loud; “What about your emotes?” There was a long pause before he spoke again; “I think I have someone in mind, just need to hash things out if they're willing.”

 

Keith's phone dinged, indicating a new message. He felt his cheeks heat up again as he glanced down at the praise.

 

**Shiro**   
_OMG, this is so adorable! I didn't know you liked to draw. Um... think I could talk to you about it soon? I really like this. I think this is how he'll look if I do change. Mind if I show Chat? Giving you credit of course._

 

**K**   
_Sure, I guess._

 

Shiro grinned as he saw the response. “So, we already have a fan art of Galra Jiro, courtesy of Yorak.” He brought the picture up on stream; a simple chibi doodle of Galra Jiro doing the kitty sneeze.

 

Keith watched the chat explode with its own praise with heart emotes and exclamations of how cute and good the drawing was.

 

**RedLion04:** _Thanks._

 

Keith opted then to type out a whisper to Jiro in order to keep his focus at least on the game and chat instead of another screen adding to who knows how many.

 

_Jiro >> I've never seen a reaction like that to my drawing before.... It's just a doodle._

 

The reply was practically instant.

 

_Jiro << A damn good doodle. :)_

 

Shiro was just about to say he'll queue and get a random healer, unsure why the healers in chat were being reluctant when a familiar name came into chat.

 

**AzuraDragon:** _I can heal if you don't mind waiting a little longer._

 

Shiro's eyes went wide; “Roms! It's good to see you. How are you?”

 

**AzuraDragon:** _Doing okay, just got off work. Barely finished moving._

 

“Ah, yeah, your cousin told me about that.” he paused, obviously not wanting to bring up something personal on stream; “Are you sure you wanna heal though? I know how you feel towards it.”

 

**AzuraDragon:** _It's fine, Shiro. He needs it for story right? I'm happy to help. ^_^_

 

“If you're sure, we're happy to wait for you. Just send me a whisper when ready.”

 

A whisper was quick to make its way to Shiro's screen, but it was another from Yorak.

 

_Yorak >> Why would they mind healing? Not trying to pry, but it just seems... odd._

 

_Yorak << I get that. Long story short, she kind of got locked into the healer role to the point where she doesn't have much fun on it and why she doesn't do endgame either._

 

_Yorak >> Oh... I don't want her to feel like she has to._

 

_Yorak << You can believe her when she says she doesn't mind helping._

 

Seconds later did the fourth slot fill, the healer symbol indicating they were a level fifty Cleric.

 

_(Pike) Wow, Yorak, you have three legends in party. This should be a breeze, enjoy the carry lol._

 

Keith snorted at the screen, Jiro may have helped him with his queue times and has crafted a couple items for him, but he has been anything, but carried.

 

Shiro rolled his eyes at the comment, resisting the urge to let out a sigh before initiating the ready check; “I'll explain the fight once you're out of cutscene.” Seeing all players set, Shiro loaded the fight and the three capped players waited for Yorak to watch the story unfold.

 

_Yorak ran down the twisting caverns, stopping dead in his tracks as the cloaked figure before him spread his arms wide; his hands glowing and with a small rumble the ground around them gave away, leaving them standing on a smaller platform. Yorak took one step forward only for the robed one to teleport away. Another shake of the screen and Yorak looked up, his eyes wide as a rock like spider dropped from the ceiling. The camera zoomed in as Yorak drew his weapon._

 

Upon loading, Keith took notice of the two players from Jiro's chat; Pike was a Galra, but like a few Galra players he had run into, he opted for more a human/catboy kind of look as opposed to the typical purple for the race. And Selonna appeared to be an Altean with long blonde pigtails and unlike himself or Jiro, her glamour was quite fetching and appeared to have some thought behind it; the top was white and black with lace and trims of gold, a short black skirt peeked out from underneath, followed by a lighter black set of leggings and black boots and atop of her head rested a tiara donning a blue-violet rose.

 

“Okay,” Shiro said, seeing his friend out of cutscene; “so what's going to happen is pretty standard at the very start. It will do a single landslide, so just don't stand in it. I only say that because it's more of a warning to show that the move does knock back, but it will do a hefty sum of damage. After that landslide it will jump from the arena, so run to the edge of where the outer perimeter starts to glow then as quickly as you can, get back to the center under it. It will do four landslides, basically forming a cross pattern. If you stand in it you will get knocked off. Unlike a normal K.O., you won't be able to get resed. Each time it leaves the arena, it's important to note that the battlefield shrinks and the landslides go off quicker. So your window for safety is that much smaller. Bombs at some point will litter the field, easy enough to avoid; first set will explode so move to the open space to not get caught in the others. It will also place one of us in a rock jail, just break us out, but be cautious of the timing because of the landslides. At the transition phase its heart becomes targetable; kill it and we'll be in the final phase. I think that's it.”

 

_(Yorak) So nothing but landslides, got it._

 

Shiro laughed; “Pretty much.” He placed an 'A' marker down in the center, “In case I place it slightly off, run to the marker. Everyone good to go?” He initiated the ready check. Seeing the three green check marks, he started his ten countdown.

 

Keith went through his mudra rotation for his speed boost then hit hide for his sneak attack. Pike did the same. Selonna casted the protective shield and as Jiro ran forward, lobbing his shield she put a regeneration spell on him.

 

The start of the encounter went as described; the edges of the arena shrunk, the four part landslide came out; only Pike didn't stand with the rest of the party, instead he stood to the left of one of the lines. Keith could only shake his head at the clear display of showing off. To him, it was obvious that Jiro was just as displeased as he heard him say; “Pike, please stack with everyone. I know in this mode of the fight you can get away with that, but it's good to get into the habit of stacking for the Nightmare version.”

 

The fight went on and on the next landslide, Keith had used his smoke bomb to close the distance quickly after avoiding the bomb mechanic. Pike this time was close to the party; but was just outside the center. Keith busted out a laugh as he saw his fellow ninja go sailing across the screen and over the edge.

 

_(Pike) Oh bullshit! I was out of that!_

 

“And that boys and girls is why we stack on the letter A.” Jiro said with a laugh.

 

The battle continued, albeit at a much slower pace since losing their second DPS, but things were going smoothly until Jiro got jailed. Keith and Selonna attacked the rock to break their tank free; the timing had been perfect for Jiro to have plenty of time to run to the marker for the landslide, but the character never moved. Over Keith's headphones he could hear the rapid clicks of analog sticks and tapping of buttons as Jiro let out an; “Oh no.... no, no, no...” And before he knew it he was sent over the edge.

 

Shiro looked to his chat seeing questions of 'what happened', mixed with laughter. “My controller decided now would be a good time to kick the bucket.” He glanced to the in-game chat log as Yorak and Selonna continued into the DPS check on the heart.

 

_(Pike) Jump off and reset. You're not gonna win._

 

Shiro shrugged at the statement, even if no one could see him; “Eh, they may as well try, Pike, I need to look for my spare controller anyways.” He began his search for the object in question, his silver gaze going back to the game screen every few seconds and on the fifth glance up his eyes went wide as he gasped in awe at the sight of Yorak unleashing his Last Resort, passing the DPS check. Selonna swiftly casted a few AoE healing spells to top the two of them off after the arena wide attack went off with a flash and the fiend jumping into the air again. When the fiend came back into view its form had changed to something more humanoid in shape, but its limbs still floated unattached. Shiro's eyes were glued onto Yorak, the character's animation even surprising Twitch chat.

 

Keith grinned, hitting his macro for his evasion stance, casting his blinking shadows spell, then throwing a smoke screen onto Selonna; masking her enmity so he became the primary target. Spells were more instantaneous as he cycled through the elements and slowing down the mob's attack speed with an enfeeblement spell, all the while maintaining his rotation.

 

Shiro retook his seat, completely entranced by Yorak's display; “Wow...”

 

The battle may have been slow, but it was steady with a few hairy spots when Yorak couldn't get his shadows back up. Selonna had taken to casting big heals to pull hate just long enough for the shadows to come back up and another smoke screen was placed on her.

 

Shiro was drawn in even more, leaning forward closer to his screen, being careful of his mic, and began to cheer and give words of encouragement; “Come on, Yorak, almost there... You can do this...” He watched the song and dance of the mechanics, his eyes bouncing between Yorak and the mob's health bar, it ticking down; five percent, four, three. “Yes... Yes, Yorak!” The chime of the Last Resort meter being filled again rang through his headset; “LR! Yorak!”

 

Keith hit his Last Resort button and let out a breath as the screen transitioned into one of victory, the camera zooming in on Yorak with his smirk and ear wiggle.

 

“Yes! You did it!!” Shiro exclaimed, shooting up from his chair; fast enough that it fell backwards onto the floor with a thud. Black who had been curled up in her little kitty bed in his office, jumped with a startle which her owner saw out of the corner of his eye. He grimaced, seeing the little ball of fluff cower behind the waste bin; “I'm sorry, Sweetheart...” There was a slight chuckle in his voice as he knelt down, stretching his hand out. A soft smile was at the ready as Black was quick to forgive and was happy to be scooped up into strong arms.

 

Shiro watched chat speed off rapidly with excitement; some asking what Yorak had actually done and a few inquiring who he was saying sorry to. “Oh, I scared Black when I knocked my chair over.” he stated, then bent over to pick up said piece of furniture so he could sit back down with the kitten in his lap. He paused for a few moments, trying to gather his thoughts on how to answer; “First, anything is possible if you don't give up. As for what Yorak did, well,” he chuckled; “it's not hard to believe that none of you have seen that in action. Most Ninjas don't use that stance because the cost of the tools is really high.” He let out a pleased sigh, petting Black as he continued; “Yorak had done some quick thinking there and I couldn't be prouder of him for thinking outside the box too. Also, Roms, kudos on the solid healing and DPS and not giving up when I went down.

 

**AzuraDragon:** _Thanks and was no problem. I actually had fun on Cleric for once! Lol_

 

He smiled; “I'm glad to hear it.”

 

As they waited for Yorak to get out of cutscene, Shiro continued on with his conversations in chat. One of his notifications went off, alerting him of a subscription. He looked the username over; “BridgeBunny, thank you for the sub. Enjoy your IOU for emotes.”

 

Chat responded with laughter as another sub notification came through. His silver eyes widened in shock as BridgeBunny gifted ten subs to people in chat, including RedLion04 and AzuraDragon.

 

“Wow, thank you so much. I promise, getting the emotes is at the top of my list.”

 

Just as Keith was exiting the cutscene he heard Jiro read a question aloud; “Will you be streaming the keynote from the M&M event next month?” There was a pause, sounding like he had taken a sip of his drink; “Oh, yeah, I will be. Thank you for saying something, I almost completely forgot.”

 

**RedLion04:** _What event?_

 

“Welcome back.” Shiro said with a smile; “Hope you enjoyed the cutscene. The event is like a mini convention dedicated to Monsters and Mana and this year they are dedicating the keynote and Q and A panel to the MMO. I will simulcast it so we can all watch together.”

 

Curious, Keith Googled the event in question and found himself to be genuinely surprised that he hadn't heard about it before now since it was only a few hours driving distance away. He noted down the date and time of the keynote before he heard Jiro speak again; “And on that note, I think I am going to end the stream. I need to find my controller still and honestly... I have no idea what I did with it.” he laughed and god, Keith felt like he could listen to that sound forever.

 

**RedLion04:** _Thanks again for the help, everyone._

 

“No problem, always happy to help. Even if I did fall to my doom.”

 

**AzuraDragon:** _You're welcome! It was a lot of fun. /IOU one smile emote_

 

“Roms!”

 

Keith snickered as he typed “lol” alongside the rest of the chat.

 

“Seriously...” he said through his chuckles, “on that note, have a good night and a fun and safe Thanksgiving. I will see you soon.”

 

The game no longer displayed on the stream window. Keith leaned back with a sigh as Jiro had gone offline. His phone pinged with a Twitter notification that he had been tagged in a tweet. His cheeks became rosy as he saw a clip from the stream with Jiro's message;

 

**Shiro** @JiroShirogane01  
 _Just because someone thinks differently than you, doesn't mean they're wrong. Think outside the box once and awhile, you might surprise yourself. Now go, be great._

 

Keith watched his notifications blow up with comments on how cool the fight was to watch, that he was one of the best Ninjas they had seen and couldn't wait to see what he could do at the level cap and all the likes and follows. It was overwhelming, but very much welcome. Ping after ping, the notifications kept coming when after a long string of them did he see a DM come through from Jiro.

 

**Shiro**   
_I knew you'd be great. :)_   
  


Keith had the softest expression on his face as he tapped the phone screen;

 

**K**   
_Thanks to you._

 

**Shiro**   
_This was all you, buddy. I only gave you the basics, you were the one that found the potential of the class and made it work for you._

 

**K**   
_Even still, thank you for all you've done for me. I don't know how to repay you._

 

**Shiro**   
_You don't owe me anything._

 

**K**   
_I want to do something for you though..._

 

There was a long pause before the next message came through;

 

**Shiro**   
_In that case... would you be interested in making my emotes?_

 

***

 

Keith had messaged Jiro fairly well into the night, attempting to hash out details for the emotes. There were some hurdles; like him not being able to draw digitally, but they were both determined to work it out.

 

Keith sat in his usual spot in his third period art class, much like lunch time, he sat alone while the tables around him were full of students, but he was content with the space and his sketchbook.

 

The teacher at the head of the room began speaking, calling for the class' attention.

 

Keith lifted his gaze from his current drawing to see a different teacher than normal standing there with a student standing next to her.

 

“As you can see, I'm not Ms. Nima. She unfortunately had a family emergency which as taken her away from us for the rest of the year. I am Miss Ryner and this is Romelle who just transferred here.”

 

The blonde girl gave wave.

 

“Now that introductions are done, I would like to take a moment to talk about how this class will go moving forward.” She turned to Romelle, “Go ahead and find a seat.”

 

Once the actual introductions had finished, Keith had gone back to his drawing. Shoes clacked on the white linoleum floor, coming closer and closer in his direction when they suddenly stopped.

 

The girl had stopped next to Keith, her eyes on the Galra Ninja on the page before him. “Yorak?”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Writing for Keith's dad is so hard when I don't have a name for him. If anyone has some suggestions I'm willing to take 'em so I can call him something. I loved writing for him though. 
> 
> Fun fact his Monsters and Mana game is a reference to my husband's super hero campaign that is still on going and we have been playing that for nineteen years


End file.
